Morrison (Caldwell Brothers #2) (15 page)

I look up when she walks into the bathroom. She is smiling, emotions filling her eyes, and my heart swells.

“You ready for your bath, little momma?” I ask as I test the water one more time. “Hot and wet.”

She smirks and shakes her head.

“You wanna take those clothes off, or you want me to do it for you?”

She shrugs and says nothing.

“Cat got your tongue?” And damn if all
I can imagine is her kitty having mine. She obviously knows what I’m thinking, ’cause she blushes and looks down.

I look up in the air and say, as if to myself, “Well, I’ll be damned. I give her my balls, and now I think she’s really ready for me to take ’em back. Thank God.”

“Gave you more than that,” she says as she looks up.

“So much more.” I stand and walk over to her. “Now I’m gonna give
you something a little different.” I grab myself. “Okay, a lot different.”

I take the hem of her shirt and lift, letting my fingers touch the warm, soft skin beneath it. “I’ve been thinking a lot lately.” I run my hands around her waist and up her back. “Not just about being physically inside you, but so much deeper.” I unhook her bra and run my hand up beneath her shirt, then hold the back of
her neck. “You know what I’m saying?”

She swallows hard. “I think so.”

“I think so, too. But let me show you. Would you like me to show you?”

“Yes.” She takes in a quick breath as I run my teeth lightly down her jawline.

I pull her shirt up and over her shoulders, then pull her bra free.

“The first time I saw you, I was instantly overloaded with feeling. Pissed, maybe.” I lick around her
tight little nipples. “The first time I kissed you, I knew I would never be the same.” I take her mouth and lick inside. I love the taste of her; I can’t get enough. I pull back with a groan. “Addicting as heroin, Hailey Poe. Worse, maybe.”

I run my hand down her back and hook her pants and panties with my thumbs before slowly pushing them down as I kiss every inch of flesh I expose. All the
while, her strangled little moans test my restraint.

Her hands grip my shoulders as I lift her ankle and pull one leg free, then the next. I run my hands up the back of her legs slowly until her tight little ass is in my hands.

“Never wanted to own any ass I’ve had, little momma.” I kiss her belly, causing her to whimper, so I do it again, feeling a million tiny goose bumps cover her skin.

I lift her leg and put it over my shoulder before running my nose up and down her inner thigh, inhaling her scent. “Never wanted to settle down, have a family, ’cause nothing in my life ever felt better than winning—freedom from the past, from near poverty. And now I know I can do better, be better. Superficial happiness by way of fulfilling material desires was a high. Winning was a high. Making
it out was a high, the ultimate high, or so I thought.”

I push a finger inside of her wet folds, making my mouth jealous of my hand. Then I cup her pussy and push another finger inside slowly as I look up, watching her mouth slowly open and her head fall back.

I lean in and lick her up and down, fingers still working her inside as she trembles. Laying my tongue flat against her clit, I circle
it as she cries out my name, and then I take her down, nice and easy.

As her grip loosens on my shoulders, I pull my fingers out and look up at her while I suck her taste from my fingers.

“As I was saying,” I continue as I stand, “I never wanted to own anyone until I tasted platinum. So, right here and now, I am telling you I don’t only want to own you, but I’ll have it no other way.”

She looks
mortified, and then, in less than two seconds, angry. She turns her head away, and I grab her arm.

“From the minute I saw you, you fucking owned me. Does it piss me off? Am I running from you? Being an ass because I’m afraid some bitch—and let’s face it, you’ve been a bitch—has me by the balls? Fuck that, Hailey. You own part of my heart.”

She looks back at me. “Part?”

“Oh, don’t you get pissed.
The other part of my heart is owned by that little girl. I should be the one who’s pissed, that you stole that shit from me. So, as far as you thinking I own you, it’s the other way around. If you don’t walk away after court tomorrow, you are giving me everything you’ve got, and don’t you dare try to ever take it back. So yes, I want to own you, just as I want you to own me.”

“I already told
you we’re yours.”

“Owned.”

She shakes her head. “I just had one of the greatest sexual experiences of my life, Caldwell, and you’re tripping on ‘owned’?”

“You were supposed to agree, and that’s when”—I grab her up in my arms—“I scoop you up like this”—my mouth crashes down on hers, and I drink her in before pulling away—“and kiss you like that.”

Her hands fist in my hair, and she pulls me
back into a kiss, this time her tongue seeking control. When I give it to her, she pulls away but continues rubbing my hair between her fingers.

“Then I was gonna look at you and tell you I have fallen in love with you, and you wouldn’t be able to doubt a damn thing.”

“Owned.” She pushes her forehead against mine so we are eye to eye.

“It’s about fucking time.”

We stay like this, staring,
sharing a moment. It’s the biggest one in my life, and I am pretty sure, aside from giving birth to Marisa, it is hers, too.

“What were you going to do next?” she says in a whisper so soft I can barely hear it over our beating hearts.

I set her in the tub and climb in behind her. Pulling her onto my lap, I reach between us and push my dick inside her. Then I pull her back against my chest and
kiss her softly.

“I love you, little momma.”

Slowly, I guide her hips back and forth on me. Her head falls to my shoulder as I rock her into a slow buildup that ends with an orgasm shared with the chick who owns my heart.

“That,” I whisper against her cheek.

After I dry her body and mine, I decide to shave and make myself presentable for court tomorrow. When I finish, I see Hailey climbing
into bed, ass in the air—and tagged “Caldwell’s Little Momma.”

I hurry and grab her hips before she makes it to the top of the bed. “You’re giving me shit about needing the word ‘owned,’ and you’ve already got your ass tagged with my name and yours?”

She rolls over and giggles. “Livi.”

“Aw, yes, Livi.” I kiss her again, ’cause I can’t help it. “What the hell am I gonna do with you?”

“Love
me,” she answers with a vulnerability I have never seen in her before, and it is even sexier than the strength I saw in her on the first night.

Strength is a turn-on, but knowing that a woman who has lived the life Hailey has has decided to give me herself and her daughter, to trust in me, to give me lust, desire, and a responsibility I never knew I wanted so badly…

Now, that is sexy on steroids.

So I do just what she asks. I love her. All. Night. Long.

Hailey is quiet as she gets ready for court. I know she and I are good, but the insecurities caused by her not saying the words I want to hear are fucking with my alpha instincts. That’s why I’ve basically put them in storage until I know I’m not going to scare her off.

I also know she is exhausted, because so am I. Last night was
nonstop body worship on both our parts. Fucking amazing.

She is less vulnerable now than she was, but I don’t know what she is going to do when put in the same room with that fucking piece of shit.

“Morrison,” I hear from behind me. I turn around to see her standing by the door, and I feel my jaw twitch and nostrils flare. “You okay?”

“Me?” I ask, pointing to myself.

“Yes, you. There isn’t
anyone else—”

“Let’s keep it that way.”

Her lip turns up in the corner. “Are we gonna do this again?”

“If you say so.”

She rolls her eyes. “We’ll be late.”

“You got my name on your ass today?” I ask as I grab the suit jacket off the hanger. I turn around to find her standing right in front of me.

Instead of answering me, she reaches out and grabs my sack, squeezes, and then turns to walk
away.

I grab her and pull her back against me. “Find what you’re looking for?”

“Yep.” She stares up over her shoulder at me.

“You haven’t said a word today.”

“I’m tired.”

“Sore?” I smirk as I kiss her neck.

“A bit, yes.” She leans to the side, exposing more of that beautiful neck.

“That’s hot.”

We arrive at Clark County District Court thirty minutes before the proceedings are scheduled
to begin. We meet the prosecuting attorney, and he explains that I am going to be questioned and to just answer to the best of my recollection.

“Mr. Timmons is facing charges including vehicular assault, assault with a deadly weapon, attempted murder—”

“How long will he be in jail?” Hailey interrupts.

“We can offer him a deal—drop the attempted murder charge, in which case he would get two
to twenty years, but the likelihood of him serving even five years is slight. I’d like to offer him assault with a deadly weapon with a mandatory four years in prison, followed by two years’ probation.”

“I want him to rot,” I tell the district attorney.

“I completely understand, but nothing is guaranteed in a criminal trial. He takes a plea, and you’ll know where he is for the next four years,
minimum.” He looks at his watch. “I need an answer. If we can settle this now, we avoid court and save the taxpayers money. If you want me to take this to court—”

“Give him the plea,” Hailey says as she looks up at me. “It’s a guarantee. Marisa will be—”

“Eight, ten when he gets off probation. Still too young, babe.”

The attorney looks through his file. “Marisa is his daughter?”

“
My
daughter,”
Hailey answers. “He agreed to give up his rights.”

“Do you have that in writing?”

“No, I have his word.”

The DA leans back in his chair and looks up at us. “So, this whole thing is about you, the mother of his child?”

“Watch the way you speak to her.”

“No disrespect, but if this goes to trial, they get a jury, and they spin it the right way—paint you as a cheat and you as a home-wrecker—he
isn’t going to spend four or five years; they never do. I can’t tell you what to do. It’s your choice, Mr. Caldwell.”

“I want to talk to him,” Hailey says.

“No fucking way!”

“I want to talk to him,” she repeats.

“Hailey—”

“I trust you with our lives, Morrison, so trust me with this.”

I look in her eyes and see she is determined, focused. I see game in her eyes—her tell is the squaring of
her shoulders, the twinkle in her eyes, the swallowing of her breaths, and the way she allows her arms to uncross and hang at her sides, giving the illusion she is open, vulnerable. However, the rubbing of her ring finger against her thumb shows a trained eye she is anxious.

“I see a game running in your head. You think you got game?”

“I know I do.”

“You won’t convince him if he sees this.”
I raise her hand up. “Relax the hands. Fuck, I can’t believe I’m allowing this shit. It feels like I’m sending you off to battle that piece of shit alone, and I don’t like it, Hailey, not even a little bit.”

“He is in cuffs and shackles,” the DA says as he stands.

“If he tries to touch you in any way, I’m gonna kill him with my—”

“Morrison.” Her eyes shift to the DA.

“Didn’t hear a thing.”
He walks to the door. “I’ll have him in the room next door.” He points to the two-way glass. “She won’t be far.”

I pull her into a hug, wishing I could keep her here, away from him, but she needs this. I know she does.

When you ask for trust from someone, you damn well better give them the same, or you sure as hell aren’t gonna get far. And I don’t want just far, either. I want forever.

I see
him shuffle in, dressed in orange, his head shaved. Then he turns and sits, so I can only see the back of him.

“He a white supremacist?”

“No, why?” She looks up at me.

“Swastika tattoo on the back of his skull isn’t gonna make him any friends in prison. He’s a bigger piece of shit than I thought.”

She gasps as she turns around. “Oh, my God. I’ve never seen that. His head has never been shaved
before. He has friends who are black. I don’t understand.”

“Hailey, maybe you should reconsider facing him.”

“No, I can do this.”

“I know you can, but you don’t have to.”

“I can do this. Trust me.”

The door to the small interrogation room shuts loudly behind me, making me want to jump. Somehow, though, I stand firm.

“I should say I’m surprised to see you here, but I’m not,” Monte says sardonically. “Too easy to read, Hailey. You always have been far too easy to read.”

Without thinking, I blurt out, “What’s with the tattoo? I’ve never seen you like this before, Monte.”

Evil dances in his dark eyes, sending a chill up my spine. I’d always feared the effects of Monte’s games and revenge scenarios on Marisa, but in this moment, I fear the man himself, and all he is capable of.

His voice is low and stern, and his stare doesn’t waver. “Know this, Hard Knocks: My past is none of your fucking concern—never has been and never will be. You don’t know my history, because
you don’t need to.”

Feeling an unknown threat and a sense of things spinning out of control, I can’t stop myself as the words tumble out.

“I need to know anything that can harm Marisa.”

He laughs sadistically. “Oh, the things you can’t seem to see. I did all of this for you and for her.”

My stomach churns, the room spins, and I have no choice but to take the seat across from him.

“Stop playing
games with me,” I choke out in a whisper.

Monte leans forward. “Don’t you see? Big Daddy Pimp wanted to put you on the corner, precious. He had bragged to the streets since you were fourteen about the price of your virginity. Your momma hustled you into the game, not to save herself, but to save you from the streets. Word got around, and Marshall got through to the dealer to give me my phone
as an emergency and a little cash for Marshall on the side. The information was slipped to me that I was indeed playing against the virgin bride. I had two choices: win and leave you to the fate that was certain to crush the light in your eyes, or bargain on the outside for you, because in the end, I never lose, and I wasn’t going to that day.”

I have no words. I sit silently for what feels like
forever, but in reality, it’s only two minutes before the DA pops his head in.

“Hailey, finish up. Time is almost over.” His presence reminds me I’m here on borrowed time and a favor from the DA. It is quite possibly illegal for me to even be having this moment with Monte.

“You bought me to save me?”

“In a way, yes. The night of the game, I could read the fear behind the façade. If a game shook
you up, there was no way you could work the corner. A girl like you has no business on the streets. I could tell that the instant you walked in the room.” He leans across the table toward me. “Prime fucking pussy, too. Best there is to have, even when you didn’t know what to do, even when you weren’t enjoying it. You’ve got prime fucking pussy, Hailey.” He leans back and grins, knowing he got
to me again.

“Enough.”

“There she is. There’s the girl who has always had the fight to take on the world.”

“You get off on this.”

“I get off on you, but more than that, I never wanted to kill the fight inside you. I just wanted to keep you safe, which I did until you made the decision to walk away. For months, Hailey, I’d seen you battling to find an escape.”

“Then why not let me go?”

“If
only it were that easy.” He looks down, then looks back up at me. “I have a past, and I have enemies, more than I care to count. It wasn’t safe unless you owed me. No one would touch you if you were working a marker for me; they would fear my wrath in not getting repaid. As long as you worked, went home, and took care of Marisa, all was fine.”

“Okay, and I did that until you threatened to get
to Marisa.”

“You fucked Aces. I needed you out of the game, Hailey. You had no business in this world, yet there you were. Aces may be good at the table, but he’s not here full-time, which would leave you unprotected.”

Anger fills me. “You want me to believe you did all this for my safety? I call bullshit.”

He leans back in his chair arrogantly. “Read me, Hailey.” His eyes instantly soften.
“I never lied to you, never beat on you. We both had a role to play, and in the beginning mine was to keep you safe. Then your mom died, and you had no one, so I made sure you got Marisa. I made sure to hide your pills so you couldn’t take them. I didn’t want you to be alone.”

“You want me to believe you gave me my daughter out of the kindness of your heart?”

“I don’t give a shit what you believe,
Hailey. You should also know I don’t have a heart, so it wasn’t that. It was you. There is a softness under the hard that calls to a man. You are the best place to fall at end of the day. Any man who had a chance at that little bit of tender in his sheets would be a fool to pass it up.”

“Then why the game with Morrison? Why put a price on Marisa?”

“You still don’t see. You can’t find the read.
Hailey, Aces had to be out of the game permanently. You can’t stay here with no debt to me. You made the choice to walk into a room of players and sit at the table. You made the choice with your man to publically repay the debt. In a world of checks and balances, you tipped the scales of your safety in a way I couldn’t keep under wraps. Word was getting out about you and Aces, and I couldn’t have
that if he was gonna stay in the league.”

“Fine, but he was out of the game, so why try to kill him?” My hands tremble and my voice shakes. How twisted can one person be? He really believes in his mind that everything he did was to protect me? In my day-to-day existence, Monte was an ass of epic proportion. He disgraced and threatened me using Marisa, in order to control and manipulate me. There
is nothing he can do or say now that could make me trust or like him, if he’s even being serious.

“He came back. If he was going to keep you and your girl safe, he shouldn’t have been in Vegas. You left, and he should’ve been with you. He wasn’t, and I needed you away from the players.”

The door opens again, and the DA calls out, “Time’s up, Hailey.”

Pulling the papers from my purse, I push
them in front of him. “Sign over your rights. You took away my choices.” I reach back and pretend to straighten my dress pants under me. Reality is, I am rubbing my ass to remind myself of who I really am. I am Caldwell’s little momma, and I’m done with the markers and the games. I want my daughter, and I’m going to get her. “You said you gave her to me as a gift since I lost Momma. Give her to me,
Monte. Sign your rights away. If all you say is true, if you really wanted to keep me safe, then prove it.”

“I’m about to go away, Hailey.” He looks to the two-way mirror. “Your boy needs to know: If I find him in Vegas, if I find him in my city, even from prison, he will pay. He’s been retired to keep you and Marisa from my past. Leave it there. Walk away today and stay the fuck away. I wanted
to give you better than I had, and whether you believe that or not, I did. If Aces returns to my world, I’ll get to him. No. Matter. What. The part you need to comprehend is you’re over to me—debt paid. Now it’s about
my
life. No one’s gonna take me out for something that’s done and over, and that is you. Aces, you, and Marisa stay the fuck away or you’re dead. Got it?”

I nod my head, seeing
just how serious he is. My mind can’t process all that has transpired here today. Somehow, in his mind, Monte has justified what he did to me. He doesn’t give me an apology. He doesn’t ask for forgiveness, not that I ever thought he would. He doesn’t clue me in on the dangers I may face. Once again, he is in control.

As he looks over the papers, my mind races. Will he sign them?

Finally, he
picks up the pen and twirls it in his fingers. Minutes tick by, feeling like hours, before he looks at me.

“If he fucks up, Hailey…I don’t even need to say it again, comprehend?” At those last words, he signs the documents, relinquishing all rights to Marisa.

I blow out a breath as the door opens and two guards come in to escort Monte to the courtroom.

He signed the papers. I am done with Sean
“Monte” Timmons. I have my baby girl, free and clear.

Morrison enters the room, pulls me into his arms, and kisses me as if I am his last breath. I grip his sports coat as I get dizzy from the emotions and his kiss. Then the DA comes in and clears his throat, breaking our moment.

“Time to go,” the DA says, and then turns to me. “I’ll get those notarized”—he points to my paperwork—“and I’ll be
the witness to him signing them so we can file them at the courthouse today for you, Ms. Poe.”

Handing him the papers, I smile in relief. Then Morrison laces our fingers together and we make our way into the courtroom, where we take our seats behind the prosecutor’s chair and wait. The jurors file in, and once everyone is seated, the bailiff escorts Monte in, then we all stand as the judge enters.
My nerves must show, because Morrison squeezes my hand in silent reassurance.

It’s all a blur until the judge asks Monte for his plea. He stands and looks to Morrison and then me before turning back to the judge.

“Guilty.”

I fight back a gasp. He isn’t going to fight it? Is this some game? Could he really be telling the truth?
Was
this all his way of protecting me? I don’t know—and I can’t
dwell on it. I have my daughter, and in the end, he’s going away for a few years, regardless.

They move on to sentencing. Monte gets four years with the possibility of parole. The earliest he can get out will be the three-year mark, and we have been reassured that will take some work.

I have my daughter. I keep reminding myself of that. I have Marisa. She’s what matters. I can face anything
anyone throws at me as long as I have her.

Boarding the plane for Detroit, I can’t stop smiling. I have no desire to ever go back to Vegas. Today, I leave the past behind me and move toward my future with unlimited possibilities. When I get off this plane, I’m going home to my family. The family I have never had before is waiting.

I am giving Marisa everything I never had. This feels good.

I squeeze Morrison’s hand as we settle into our seats. “It feels good, Caldwell.”

“That it does, little momma.” He winks at me before kissing my temple softly.

T
WO
M
ONTHS
L
ATER

Life is good. When I worked at the casino, there was this little old man who always had the same answer when asked how he was doing today.

“I’m doing fine, just fine. I’m better than good,” he would reply every time
without fail.

Life is just that—better than good.

I have my daughter, my man, and family. Well, I have my daughter and my man every night but Wednesdays. Keeping with tradition, Morrison and Marisa have their weekly date night, and Mom is not invited. I love that she has this.

Love…It’s a funny thing. It is scary. It is overwhelming. It is amazing.

I never had a prom date. Hell, I never had
a boyfriend until Morrison. I have never had the chance to express these feelings to anyone other than Momma and Marisa. And the love I feel for them, although just as powerful, is completely different from what I feel for Morrison.

He always says I have his balls. Well, he has me. I’m just not sure he knows it. I want to tell him, but at the same time, it scares the shit out of me.

If he really
knew how weak he makes me…The mere thought of losing him ties me up in knots.

He is my best friend. He has held me up when I couldn’t stand on my own. He has given me space when I needed to find myself. He has been my biggest supporter in everything I do. He has opened doors for me when I felt like I had nowhere to turn. He has given me a new life.

More than any of that, he has shown me what
real love is. For better or worse, Morrison Caldwell has stood beside me. He’s had my back, even when I didn’t know I needed it.

He owns me—mind, body, and soul. He truly fills a part of me no one else could.

There was a time not so long ago when the thought of anyone “owning” me scared the shit out of me. Then Morrison showed me that actions speak louder than words. But the words are nice,
too. Morrison owns me in the same way I own him. I belong to him because I belong with him. It isn’t a possession of power and manipulation. It’s a possession of choice.

I choose him as he chooses me.

I choose to make him a priority as he chooses to make me his.

I choose to give to him freely as he does with me.

Everything between us is an exchange. More than that, it’s done with free choice.
I have choices. Consent is fucking required, and the Caldwell family has taught me just that.

We may not be some picture-perfect family, but we are family just the same. For the first time in my life, I feel like I’m where I belong. I feel like I’m where
we
belong—Marisa and me.

Making my way into the bar, I see Jagger pacing. I stow my purse in the back, then go out to where he is right as
he throws back a shot. Jagger is a wild card, sure, but he never drinks this early in the night.

“Wanna talk about it?” I greet him.

“You ever felt helpless?” He looks at me. “Well, that’s a dumb fucking question.”

“Jagger, what’s going on?”

He murmurs to himself. “Untouchable. Pushing buttons and she’s completely untouchable.”

“Who?”

“Nothing; not your concern. Just a bad situation for
an innocent person. That’s the way it goes, though, right?” He pours another shot and downs it. “Bad things always happen to good people. Gotta treasure what you have when you have it because not everyone gets to have it good.”

Before I can reply, he turns and stomps away. I frown, wishing Jagger would let me in, even if it’s only to listen. But these Caldwell boys were made from the same mold,
and I know that whatever he’s going through, he will sort it out and lean on family when the time comes.

“You did an amazing job, Momma Caldwell. I only hope I can be the mother to my children that you were to yours,” I whisper to myself at the back of the bar.

The rest of the night passes quickly and without incident. Then I make my way into my dark apartment, where Marisa is sound asleep in
her room. I expect to find Morrison in my bed, so when he’s on the couch, it takes me off guard.