Hurt: A Bad Boy MMA Romantic Suspense Novel (22 page)

I crouched down and grabbed a piece of paper off the floor. It had a bunch of names and numbers. It looked like statistics. Probably some sport.

Noah called for my father a few times, but there was no response.

The money on the floor was just ones and fives.

I noticed something next to the couch and grabbed it. It was a stack of hundreds.

Maybe if there was some… there would be more…

I flipped the first hundred dollar bill and then felt my heart sink. The rest of the money was fake money. Paper money you could buy in a toy store for kids to play with.

“He really was a scumbag,” I said.

“Hey, sweetheart, look at this,” Noah said.

The kitchen was no better. There were strings hung from wall to wall with notes clothes pinned. It was all numbers. Stats. Debts. Bets. Everything for an addicted gambler to feast upon.

“This notebook is what he took from your mother,” Noah said.

Sure enough it was a detailed notebook of their conversations and how much she gave him. Then there was a section where she must have given him her banking information to use in case she couldn’t talk.

“She opened the floodgates,” I whispered.

“I’m sorry.”

My mother was going to leave me with nothing.

“What’s this though?” Noah asked. “About a jewel? Necklace?”

I shut the notebook. “Nothing. Let’s keep looking.”

Noah took a few steps and then paused. “Ah, fuck.”

“What now?” I asked.

“Look…”

I looked at the back door. There were muddy footprints.

“Two sets,” Noah said.

“Someone else was here,” I said.

I felt my heart sink again. Why?

The second set of footprints were those from very fancy shoes.

~ ~ ~

“Benito did something,” I said. “He set us up, Noah.”

“Just wait a second,” Noah said. “Wait.”

“What else could it be?”

Noah looked at me. “Ellis.”

He opened the back door and stormed outside. I stood at the door and watched him look around. He went to the car and opened the door. As he climbed inside to look around, I turned and walked through the kitchen again. There had to be more clues. Other than my father taking all of my dying mother’s money.

I could only hope that my father hadn’t gotten a hold of the biggest secret of all.

I paused in the doorway from the kitchen and gasped.

The cabin was trashed. The cabin was empty. Ellis was dead. Benito had my son.

It started to come together and weigh on me.

When those men came into the apartment, they weren’t ever going to hurt me. They weren’t looking for cash. There was no cash in the apartment. Who the hell would bring six figures of cash and just leave it in an apartment?

They were looking…

I spun around and looked at the kitchen table.

The notebook. The notes.

The secret.

My father and Ellis had busted their way in my apartment. They attacked me. They attacked Leah.
They attacked Jude.

I wanted to hate my father, but right then, I realized maybe he had no choice.

My father had been the one set up to lose in all this.

I rushed to the back door and met a white faced Noah.

“Noah…”

“Don’t go out there,” he said.

“Why?”

“I found your father.”

51.

(Noah)

It had the markings of a total idiot. He tried to bury the body but did a terrible job. Craig’s body wasn’t even completely covered. It was like a few shovels of dirt were thrown on him and that was it.

The second I saw him, I called Benito.

“Craig is here. He’s dead. I didn’t kill him. Bring my kid back to me now.”

That was all I had to say.

I ran to the cabin and met Ashlynn as she was coming out. She damn near jumped into my arms and when I told her I found her father, she did jump. To try and get over me. I caught her and put her down.

“Ellis did all this,” she said. “He came and used my father not only to get to me. He found out way too much. He knew things…”

“I know,” I said. “I’m seeing it now, sweetheart.”

“He wasn’t going to keep Jude. He was going to use the baby against me. For the jewel.”

“The jewel?”

Ashlynn looked beyond me. “Where is he?”

“Hey, answer my…”

“Where is my father?”

“Sweetheart, he’s dead.”

“I need to see.”

I wanted to argue against Ashlynn’s wish, but who was I to fight her on it? Her father had done so much bad stuff to her, maybe this would help her. It would be the ultimate end of it all.

I grabbed her hand and walked her to the shallow grave. The second she saw her father, she turned her head and groaned.

“I’m so sorry,” I said. “I’ve already called Benito.”

“He’s dressed in black,” Ashlynn whispered. “That’s what they wore when they broke into the apartment. They weren’t looking for cash, Noah.”

“Tell me about this jewel then.”

“My mother said something about it. A family heirloom. It’s worth a couple million dollars.”

“Jesus,” I said. “So this is all about money.”

“Yeah. Ellis probably came to my father thinking he could get to me. I’d bet my life there’s a notebook in that cabin of money he owed to Ellis. So Ellis used him to get to me and then found out about all this.”

“Why kill him then?” I asked.

“My father is a degenerate loser. He couldn’t find the jewel. He couldn’t get anymore money from my mother. And the second he showed Ellis where I was…”

It was like a punch to the gut. “He had no more use then.”

“Exactly,” she whispered. “And you know what desperate men do?”

“Anything they can to survive,” I said. “Your father probably ran his mouth and Ellis snapped.”

I grabbed Ashlynn and hugged her.

I turned her away from the scene and stared down at the body. There was something in his left hand. If I had to put money on it, I’d guess it was the picture he stole from Ashlynn’s apartment. Christ, maybe the guy really did love his wife that much. They were just hopeless… and they never gave a damn about their daughter.

But I did.

I loved Ashlynn.

“Come on,” I said. “That’s enough. We’re going to get our son back. It’s over.”

Ashlynn looked up at me. “I’m sorry, Noah. That I got angry…”

“No, you don’t have to apologize for anything. The only thing you did wrong was let me in.”

“That was the best mistake I ever made.” She flickered a quick smile.

I scooped her up and walked her to the front of the cabin.

There we stood, my arms wrapped around her, holding her tight.

And we waited for our son to come back.

~ ~ ~

I held Jude. My hands were big compared to his tiny body, but my hands didn’t feel big enough. I wanted to keep the kid safe for the rest of his life. Safe from bad days, bullies, and illness. I couldn’t do that though. No parent could do that for their child, yet it was the one thing every parent wanted.

My life changed each second I stared into the baby’s eyes.

He was a perfect mix of me and Ashlynn. He would never know the power he possessed by just existing.

I cradled him and kissed his forehead.

I turned and offered him to Ashlynn.

“You’re leaving?” she whispered.

“I have to meet with Benito.”

“I don’t like it.”

“It has to be done, sweetheart. We have to tie up loose ends.”

Ashlynn took Jude and then kissed me. “Answer me honestly, Noah. Do you think you’ll be back?”

In other words,
will Benito kill me?

I thought about lying to Ashlynn, to protect her and Jude. Maybe a better man would have lied.

“I don’t know if I’ll be back,” I whispered. “That’s the truth.”

She looked at me. She nodded. She understood.

Then we kissed as though we’d never get to kiss again.

~ ~ ~

I sat across from Benito as he finished off a glass of scotch. A pretty blonde climbed out from under the desk and stood up. She fixed her dress and her hair.

“You want in?” Benito offered.

“No thanks,” I said. “I’m happy with what I have.”

“Okay.” He looked at Dante. “Yours?”

“I’ll show her the door,” Dante said.

I hurried to stand and grabbed for Dante. “Hey. Thank you for keeping Jude safe. That got real tense with everything. I mean, between us too. I meant what I said before. You were like a brother to me, Dante.”

Dante grabbed my shoulder. “It’s good. You were protecting your family. That fighter in you does have a heart and it does know how to love. Who would have fucking thought?”

“Thank you again,” I said. “That was really hard for Ashlynn…”

“No worries. I would have never let anything happen to your son, Noah. Now, if you don’t mind, I’m going to go take this blondie and fuck her until she can’t remember who she is.”

“Sounds like a great night.”

“Better than yours,” Dante said and winked.

My night? If I got out of Benito’s office alive? There would be diaper changes, bottles, burps, spit up, rubber ducks in a tub… yeah, not a bad night at all.

The door shut behind Dante.

“Sit, Noah,” Benito said.

I stood behind the chair. “I’d rather stand.”

“Fair enough.” Benito cracked his knuckles. “I have to take a loss on this one. I’m at least happy both Craig and Ellis are dead.”

“Ellis was your son, right?”

Benito nodded. “Yeah. Irish pussy, Noah. I had a thing once. Christ, if my family found out about it… they’d have cut my head off. So I kept him hidden. Out of the way. Funneled him some money and he went off to invest and hustle on his own. Nobody can know about that though, okay?”

“Dante?”

“He doesn’t know. I told him to make the hit. That Ellis was in our way of an expansion project. It doesn’t matter the reason when I want someone dead.”

“So you trust me with this secret?”

“You tried to kill me, Noah.”

“Maybe. My mind knew one thing. Protecting my family.”

“You did a good job at it. I just wish I could have gotten that money back. But it’s done now. I have to take the loss and move on. Plenty of money to earn out there. Some big fights coming your way. Okay?”

“I want a big one next,” I said. “I have a debt to pay.”

Benito raised an eyebrow. “You have a debt? Is this something I should worry about?”

“No,” I said. “This is personal. Benito, are we good?”

“We’re a-fucking-okay,
son
.” He then slowly stood up. “But let me make one thing clear. If you ever try to set me up again, no matter what, I will kill you. I will kill your entire family.”

I nodded and backed up to the door. I turned the knob and then grinned. “Benito. A piece of advice? If you’re going to threaten someone and you want to be really scary… maybe you should zip up your fly first.”

Benito looked down at his open pants.

I left the office and didn’t look back.

My future was waiting for me.

My love and my son…

52.

(Ashlynn)

I dug my nails into the muscles of his back. I bit at his shoulder as my entire body quivered. I had to keep myself from screaming. My body came so violently hard, my hips rocked and thrust, like I couldn’t figure out what to do to seek complete relief.

“Fuck,” I whispered into Noah’s ear as the pressure and pleasure continued their never ending war. “It’s so good.”

It was the best sex of my life.

Hell, every time Noah touched me led to the best sex of my life.

He held my sides and thrust deep into me, pumping his amazing body in and out me. His lips touched my neck, sending shivers through my body. I arched my back, offering my chest to him. I was no longer worried about myself. I trusted Noah and he made me feel beautiful.

As the tip of his tongue touched my left nipple, I groaned. He engulfed my breast and sucked hard. He pulled back, his teeth grazing against my nipple. He pulled off with a
pop
sound and went right to my other breast. Repeating the same beautiful move and then he started to go down. He pulled back and out of me, leaving my sex throbbing and begging for more.

I grabbed at his hair, trying to catch my breath. “What the fuck are you doing?”

“I’m going to fucking devour you,” he growled at me.

I then watched as he kissed down my belly, inch by inch. He moved down between my legs, his tongue starting at the bottom of my pussy and licking to the top, collecting my wetness. His tongue thrust against my clit, pounding at me, making me jump each time. His hands found my hands and he interlocked our fingers together. He forced my hands to the bed and kept me there. I dug my heels into the bed and moved up and down, against the magic of his tongue.

Noah made me come again, stealing my breath, my mind, and my heart.

He then climbed back up my body and offered himself to me. By then, I was tired, every muscle in my body aching and wobbly, but my heart demanded more. I was his, not just in the tender moments of him fucking me, but every moment.

Good, bad, and in between.

~ ~ ~

I saw Noah in the doorway as he came back to bed. He had nothing but jeans on, and they weren’t buttoned. That was a sight to see. The cuts of perfect muscle racing down into his jeans, leaving the imagination and the lust run wild.

“Everything okay?” I asked.

“He’s fine,” Noah said. “I think he was having a bad dream. I rubbed his back for a few minutes. He, uh, let one rip, and then was back to sleep.”

I laughed. “What a kid.”

Noah climbed back into bed and had his arms around me in a second. We fit together, like pieces of a puzzle.

“He’s amazing,” Noah whispered. “Thank you for giving him to me.”

“Thank you for putting him there.”

“It was my pleasure, trust me.”

I smiled. “Yeah, mine too.”

There was silence for a few seconds.

“Hey, you know I have to fight again, right?”

“I know,” I said. “We can deal with that when the time comes. I don’t want to leave this moment with you.”