Jase (Kings of Korruption MC Book 3) (11 page)

Gradually my tears subside.
Enough crying, Ellen. It’s time to man up,
girl, and this isn’t helping.

Standing from
my place on the floor, I check myself over in the hallway mirror. I
look a mess. My eyes are red and puffy, tear stains running down my
cheeks. I can’t cry pretty like those girls you see on TV. No, not
me. I cry ugly, fat tears, complete with dripping nose and red
splotchy face. I am the ugliest crier I know.

I go to the
bathroom and try to fix myself up a bit. Bryce will be home soon,
and I don’t want him to know I’ve been crying. I need to talk to
him, especially now that he’ll be going to a family centre for
supervised visitation with his father.

I’ve never
felt so alone; not even when my family disowned me. Thank God for
Julie and her parents. Jase is right. I need to have someone to
talk to about this, or I’m going to lose my mind, but who? Nobody
would understand. They’d sympathize, sure, but would anybody really
get what I’m going through?

I blow out a
long breath and look around my house. I’m going to have to get
through this on my own. I can do this, because I have no
choice.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Jase

“C
ome on, man.
You can’t tell me you don’t see the irony.”

I roll my eyes
and toss my beer cap at Ryker’s head. “Fuck you, asshole. This shit
isn’t funny.”

He smirks and
shakes his head, leaning forward to pick at the label on his beer
bottle. “You’re right, it’s not. You’ve been fuckin’ bitches left
and right, without ever looking back. Now you’ve finally found one
that you want, and she’s not interested.”

“
She’s interested,” I drawl, wagging my eyebrows. “She just
has all that shit going on with her ex. Man, the guy sounds like he
needs his ass kicked.”

Ryker nods.
“He does, so let’s do it. Let’s find this asshole and set him
straight.”

I crack my
knuckles and curl my lip. “Oh, trust me. I intend to. Just need to
find out who the fuck he is first.”

A commotion
from the entrance of the clubhouse draws our attention. Gabby,
Gunner’s daughter, is standing by the door, talking to two of our
members with her arms flailing, looking worried. The two guys look
to us, concern heavy in their expressions.

Abandoning our
beers, we stand as one and move in Gabby’s direction. “What’s going
on, sweetheart?” Ryker asks.

“
My dad,” she says, clearly trying to control her emotions. “I
can’t get a hold of my dad.”

“
Okay,” Ryker says in a soothing voice. “Let’s get you sitting
down. Your father’s a busy man, Gab. He’s probably not able to
answer the phone right now. Nothin’ to worry about.”

“
No!” she exclaims, yanking away from Ryker. “You don’t
understand. He was supposed to be at my place two hours ago. He was
going to come over and fix the dishwasher, and said he had
something to tell me. He never showed, and he never called. That’s
not right. Since we started talking again, he’s been really good
about making sure I know he’s not standing me up. Something’s
wrong.”

Ryker and I
exchange a look.

She’s right,
something’s off. Since reconnecting with his kids a couple months
ago, I’ve seen Gunner interrupt church meetings to call Gabby and
let her know he was gonna be late for something they had planned.
He loves his kids, and knew that with their history, they still
feared he’d leave them again.

Ryker pulls
his phone from his pocket and taps the screen a few times before
pressing it to his ear. I can faintly hear the ringing coming from
the other end of his call. He doesn’t take his eyes off me, and I
don’t miss the fear hiding there.

He taps the
screen again a couple more times and puts it to his ear. More
ringing, still no answer.

I hear Tess’s
voice on the other end, instructing the caller to leave a message.
Tess is Gunner’s old lady, and for her not to answer the phone is
just strange. The woman has that thing in her hand twenty-four
seven.

Ryker
disconnects and taps the screen a third time. Putting it to his
ear, I hear it ring twice before it’s picked up. “Bosco, I need you
to do me a favor. Who you with?”

I stare at
Ryker, waiting to hear what the hell is going on. His forehead
creases. “Shank? Who the hell is Shank?”

I can’t help
but chuckle. Ryker never was good with names. Shank is our newest
prospect, only coming on board a few weeks ago. He’s a huge son of
a bitch, but I don’t know much about him other than that.

“
Whatever,” Ryker continues. “Take him with you. I need the
two of you to run over to Gunner’s house and see if him or Tess are
there. If you see him, tell him that Gabby is looking for him, and
so am I.”

Ryker jams his
phone back in his pocket and takes Gabby’s hand. “Come on,
sweetheart. Let’s get you a beer. Those guys aren’t too far from
your dad’s house.”

Moving to the
bar, I snag a beer and twist off the cap, handing it to Gabby.

She takes it
from me and gives me a nod before tipping the bottle back and
swallowing down half of it in one go. It’s not hard to tell she’s
Gunner’s daughter.

Gabby sets the
bottle down heavily on the table. “I’m worried,” she whispers.

Ryker doesn’t
say anything. He looks worried too. I move in and take her hand. “I
know, Gab, but we’re gonna find him, okay? Let’s find something
else to talk about.” I look around the room, desperate to find
anything to distract us from the wait.

“
Laynie tells me you’re finally seeing that Ellen woman,”
Gabby says.

“
Yeah, I was, but she broke it off.”

Gabby’s eyes
widen and her mouth drops open. “What? Why?”

I give her the
short version, without telling her too much of Ellen’s story.
That’s not mine to share. I’m just finishing up when Ryker’s phone
rings.

“
Yeah?” he barks.

I don’t hear
what’s said, but Ryker’s expression says it all. “Okay, hold
tight,” he chokes out, his voice choked up with emotion. He
disconnects the call and his gaze shifts to Gabby. “Bosco found
him. He’s dead, Gabby. Him and Tess.”

“
No,” she cries. “No!”

“
I’m so sorry, sweetheart,” he whispers before stalking out to
his bike and leaving me with a woman who just learned she’d lost
her father.

Ellen

Bryce is
crawling into bed when I walk into his room. “Hey, Bud. Can we talk
for a sec?”

He arranges
the blankets across his lap and shrugs. “Sure.”

I sit down on
the edge of his bed, trying to figure out exactly what I should
say. Nothing can prepare you for having to tell your son that his
father is trying to get full custody. I don’t want to sway him away
from his father either.

I want him to
be able to enjoy his childhood without his parents’ drama affecting
his life, but knowing Paul, he’s not going to let that happen.

I turn towards
Bryce and smile. “I wanted to talk to you about your dad.”

Bryce scowls
back at me, his mouth pinched tight. “What about him?” His voice is
cutting and sharp, obviously ready to defend his father against
anything I’m about to say.

I close my
eyes before looking back at him. “Remember when we went to that
lawyer’s office last week, and I said I had to talk to her about
some stuff?” He nods, his expression getting even harder. “Your
father has contacted a lawyer and is taking me to court.”

“
Good,” he snaps, his hands balled into fists. “It’s not right
that you don’t let me see him anymore, just because you don’t like
him. It’s not fair.”

My throat gets
tight. Does my baby hate me? Has Paul already taken him from me?
“Baby, I know you’re angry, but you don’t know the whole
story.”

“
It doesn’t even matter,” he says, jumping up from his bed and
pacing the room. “You’re jealous of him. He knows it, and I know
it.”

My eyes fall
close again, trying fight back the despair I feel, knowing that he
will never fully understand. “Your father wants full custody of
you.”

Bryce’s body
freezes and he turns to face me. “What do you mean?”

I speak slowly
so he can’t mistake my meaning. “Your father thinks that you would
be better off living with him, and only seeing me once in a
while.”

Bryce’s head
snaps back and his eyes blink rapidly. “You’re lying. You’re a
liar.”

“
I’m not lying, Buddy. We’ve been to court already, and the
judge said you can visit with your dad at a family centre, under
supervision, until she can decide which of us you should live with.
You’re going to see him tomorrow.”

He stares at
me, his eyes unblinking as he takes in what I’ve just said. “Good,”
he barks. “I’m going to ask him myself, and he’ll tell me the
truth. Dads never lie to their kids.”

It’s my turn
to stare at him. “Who told you that?”

“
Dad did. Are you gonna tell me that’s a lie too?”

I press my
lips together and shake my head. It’s no use talking to him right
now. He’s too angry, and isn’t even listening to what I’m saying. I
stand from the bed and skim my fingers through his hair. “Good
night, Bud. I love you.”

He doesn’t
respond. I walk out of his room feeling completely defeated. Bryce
is a good kid, but he’s wanted a father his whole life.

And now that
he’s finally got one, he’s not going to let him go without a fight.
I get that, I really do. I just wish I’d never responded to that
Facebook message last year.

The phone
rings just as I’m walking back into the kitchen. I look at the
number and see that it’s an unknown caller, so I let it go straight
to voicemail. It’s most likely Paul, and I can’t deal with him
right now.

A few seconds
after the phone stops ringing, it alerts me of a new voicemail
message. Putting in my password, I lift the phone to my ear.

“
Ellen, just wanted to remind you again about the visitation
tomorrow. It starts at four o’clock. It’s best that you’re not
late. I get him for three hours, and you’re not going to mess that
up. Better yet, be late. It will look even better for me if you
are. See you tomorrow.”

I slam my
phone down on the counter. I hate him! Why is he making everything
so hard? Why, after all these years, does he want to take a child
he never wanted in the first place?

CHAPTER TWELVE

Jase

T
he two cherry
wood caskets sit side by side, ready to be lowered into the ground.
Looking around, I see the sad faces of just about everyone I know,
all here to mourn the great loss we’ve all suffered. Even Ellen
showed up in support of Charlie, but I haven’t had the chance to
talk to her. I don’t even want to. I don’t want to talk to
anyone.

I haven’t
slept in three days, not since our entire world was rocked. Ryker
and I had hauled ass to Gunner’s house, terrified of what we would
find there. I didn’t know what to expect. I didn’t even know what
Bosco had said to Ryker on the phone. I’d just passed Gabby off to
the others and followed my boy out to our bikes.

Bosco and
Shank had been sitting on the front step of the tiny house, both
shaky and looking a little green. Ryker took charge, heading right
for them. “Show me,” he demanded.

Bosco had
stood and ran his fingers through his hair, warning us that it
wasn’t pretty. For the first time, I noticed the blood on his jeans
and dark grey T-shirt.

Bosco was the
first to go inside, followed by Ryker, me, then Shank. What we
found inside will haunt me for the rest of my life. Two kitchen
chairs sat back to back in the centre of the kitchen—Tess in one,
Gunner in the other—both completely naked. Their wrists were bound
together on each side, their hands holding tightly to each other,
even in death. There were several signs that they’d been tortured
before receiving a bullet directly to their brain.

Nobody knows
all the gory details of what we saw that day, and nobody else ever
will. The humiliation the pair suffered does not ever need to be
spoken of, but every single person here knows that it was bad. It
was only a few months ago that we had all gathered here, in this
very same cemetery, to lay Mouse to rest. Being back here again is
gut-wrenching.

At Mouse’s
funeral, Gunner had delivered an emotional speech about family and
brotherhood. Now it’s Ryker’s turn to do the same for him. When
it’s Ryker’s time to go to the head of the crowd, he presses a kiss
against Charlie’s hair and weaves his way to the back of both
caskets.

While he’s
walking, Reaper leans in and whispers in my ear. “What the fuck is
that evil cunt doing here?”