Resisting Perfection (The Perfection Series Book 2) (18 page)

“You know how much I love you?”

“You’ve told me but what does that have to do with anything?”

“Why can’t you tell me you love me?”

“I do love you; we just have a different love for each other. I’m not sure how many times we have to go over this.”

Silence fills the car and I’m quickly growing tired of his tantrums. I sit back in my seat and check my messages. I still have nothing from Fenton and it is beginning to be a little aggravating. I’m so tired of these men throwing fits.

I decide to call him. If he’s ignoring me, I will know by how this phone call goes. I hit send and as soon as it connects, it goes straight to voicemail. That’s not a good sign.

“Do you really want to go to the movies? I’m ready to go home.”

“We aren’t going to the movies,” he states, coldly. My eyes lift to check our location as I haven’t been paying attention while I was calling Fenton. Sure enough, we are on the interstate, heading west. My heart drops to floor when his expressionless face remains on the road without further explanation. Do I dare ask where we’re going? Do I want to know?

“Where are we going?” I can’t help myself. I have to know if he is planning my demise or if he is taking me somewhere to continue gravelling. Although I hope it’s the latter, my gut is telling me it’s not.

“You’ll find out soon enough.”

“What the fuck does that mean?”

“That means, sit your pretty little ass in that seat, and keep quiet. You’ll find out when we get there.”

“I’m not going to be quiet until you tell me where we are…”

Shane

I glance over at her to make sure she hasn’t fallen out of the seat. Aside from the pink mark that stains her face, she looks so peaceful. I really enjoyed watching the fear form on her face but I’m pissed she made me mark her again. If she would’ve listened to me, she would still be awake and perfect.

“You’re going to love me. I’m going to make you. We’ll be happy and have the life I’ve always dreamed we’d have. We can kick Phoebe out and have your apartment all to ourselves. You’ll see, it’s going to be great. Maybe soon we can have a baby. You’ll be a great mother, Pipe.”              

The vibration in my pocket stops my confessions.

“Yeah,” I answer.

“Where in the fuck are you?”

“We had to go to some stupid fucking dinner with her parents, so I’m going to be later than expected.”

“That’s not acceptable. We had a deal and your payment was fronted, so you better not be trying to back out.”

“I’m not. We are on the way now; it should only be about forty-five minutes.”

“Make sure it’s not more than that.”

The line goes dead and I want to throw my phone. Who the fuck does he think he is? None of this shit would even be happening if it weren’t for me. He’s going to find out who he’s dealing with when I get there. All I have to say is, I hope he’s ready for a fight. I don’t take directions lightly. I don’t care if my payment was fronted; he’s not going to treat me like a subordinate. Speaking of, shit is about to go down, I better make sure I’m ready. Swiftly, I spread the line on the back of my hand while trying not to swerve all over interstate 70 and pull it in. I take a deep breath and wait for it to take effect. It’s going to be a long night.

Decker

“It’s time for you love birds to go your separate ways,” I say, kicking James in the leg so they will wake up. They’ve been huddled in this corner for too long. I can’t have them plotting against me.

“We’re not going anywhere,” he replies, not even attempting to move.

“You’re not, she is. Now get up.”

“No.”

“Listen, Fenton. It’s in your best interest to listen to what I’m telling you.”

He finally looks up at me and I hope to God he listens so I don’t have to put a bullet in his ass. Its bad enough were going through this at all.

“You better not hurt her, Decker.”

“That’s all up to her, James. If she complies, we’ll have no issues.”

“You better stick to your word or you’ll be a dead man.”

“I think you and I both know that isn’t true.”

“Please don’t make me prove it. I would hate to kill one of the few people in my life I respect.”

I leave that statement hanging. If I had a heart it may break for them. I’ve never had any interest in caring for others; it’s not something I do. Fenton came closer than anyone I’ve ever met at gaining my trust but even then it was provisional. We had to have a certain level of trust for one another in order to complete the hits. But when he left the life, I had to lose that trust. I live a dangerous life and I haven’t lived this long by handing trust out freely. I suspect Fenton hides quite a bit in the way of who he’s doing business with, especially given how he used to live when he was with us and for that same reason I can’t trust him. I can only go about the plan the way it’s supposed to work and hopefully we can get out of this with the least amount of casualties as possible.

Chapter Thirteen

Fenton

She looks back at me one last time before Decker walks her out of the room. As soon as the door closes behind them, my fist meets the wall. Blood instantly begins pouring out of it but I sit back and enjoy the pain it brings. If they don’t get me out of here soon, I’m going to fucking go crazy. This room is nothing more than four steel walls and a door. I’m sure there is a camera attached somewhere but I’ve not been able to find it.

“Fenton, my boy, how have you been? Where’s Camille?” he asks a little confused.

“You son of a bitch you’re behind all of this?” What a punch in the gut. Here I thought this whole time it was Geno. I should have known this mother fucker wouldn’t stop until I was dead.

“Was there ever a question?” The bliss on his face makes me sick. His sadistic smile grows the size of his face and I want to punch him in it. “Now answer me, where’s Camille?”

“I knew you were a bastard but I never thought you’d stoop this low. Why didn’t you shoot me when you had me on the roof?”

“Because I knew this was coming and I didn’t want to spoil this plan your master mind of an old man put together. Aren’t you proud of me, Fenton?”

“You disgust me,” I say then spit in his face.

“That’s your one chance, son. You try anything like that again and you’re done.”

“How long have you been in the killing business? I thought you were just a bitter old man.”

“Son, you should know better than to doubt your old man. You know your grandfather James built his business from the ground up. He was a bastard but he knew how to run a business. It was always expected of me to finish school and work in the family business. For a while that was enough. The prestige of being a second generation businessman was all I needed. But then I met your mother and she was my best friend. I was more interested in impressing her than I was working and your grandpa wasn’t too happy.

The first year of our relationship was the best year of my life. Then we had you. Do you know how hard it is on a young couple to have a brand new baby? Your mom and me, we almost didn’t make it. My new wife, the love of my life, loved you more than she loved me. For a long time I hated you for that. Then I grew up a little and decided you were a part of me and that I needed to be your father. We were happy again. It even got to the point that I wanted you with me wherever I was. You went to work with me as soon as you were able to walk. You loved it, too. You had to drive around in the dozer with me and I couldn’t keep you off the scaffolding. My only wish was that your grandfather would have been able to see you. He would’ve been so proud. “

“I don’t want to hear this, Frank. You might as well kill me know. Your words hurt more than the bullet.”

“Now Fenton, is that anyway to talk to your father?”

“You’re kidding, right?”

“Hold on, I’m getting to the best part. When your mother told me she was pregnant with Danny, I was ecstatic. Then you told me you thought we would love him more than we love you and it broke my heart. Do you remember how close we were son?”

“No. I vaguely remember going to work with you but I don’t remember it being all happy go lucky like you’re describing. I had to listen to you yell and put people down all day. I hated it.”

“Oh yes, maybe I am a little mistaken but I was only teaching you the way of the business. I knew you would be taking over the business one day and I couldn’t have you being a push over.”

“I think you succeeded,” I laugh, wondering where he is going with this.

“Do you remember when your mother sat us both down to tell us she was pregnant?”

“Frank, don’t. I can’t hear this shit.” I warn and my insides begin shaking at the thought of talking about Danny. I was on the edge hearing about our cute little family before he was born. I definitely won’t be able to listen to Frank talk about him. That time in my life was so traumatic I’ve almost blocked it all. If he dredges anymore up, I can’t be held responsible for my actions.

“Your mother was so excited to finally give you a little brother or sister. It’s all she talked about while she made us paint his room. Do you remember what color we painted it, Fent?”

“Blue,” I blurt, not sure where I pulled the information. I have no memory of that time, it’s too painful.

“Aw, you do remember. I’m proud of you, son. I’m sure it was hard for someone as selfish as you to remember something about someone else.”

“Do you have a point to this story? I’m growing tired of your voice.”

“We’re getting there. Where was I? Oh yes. You know your mother had to teach me to change a diaper again? You were ten by this time and having a baby around again was a big change for all of us. But after some convincing, you were excited too. You were the best big brother. It made me happy to see how good you were with him. He was such a great kid. As the two of you grew a little older, he worshipped the ground you walked on. But I noticed the two of you growing farther and farther apart. I told your mother I was concerned but she chalked it up to you being a teenager…”

“I’m fucking tired of this story, Frank. Get to the fucking point!” I scream, knowing where he is leading.

“When you started sneaking out of the house, I knew you were going in the wrong direction but your mother didn’t see it. We began resenting each other because I thought you needed more discipline and she thought you were fine. You weren’t fine and I never forgave her for not seeing it. I knew something was going to have to happen before she would open her eyes. But I never dreamed…” he trails off, tears staining his face. He can’t stand to hear the words either. If Frank and I never agree on anything else for the rest of our lives we both know that Danny should never have died that night.

“You brought me to my knees that night, Fenton. I loved you boys so much but I couldn’t stand to look at you after you killed him. Then you left, leaving me to handle your mother’s broken heart. Do you know how much that hurt her, Fenton?”

I can’t answer. I’ve regretted nothing more in my life than leaving my mother with him. I will argue with him all day that I didn’t kill her but in an essence I did. I should have been there for her. I couldn’t stand myself for what happened and I knew she felt the same.

“That’s what I thought. You’ve become a coward, Fenton. You’re no longer that little boy I was so proud of. You’ve let drugs and alcohol rule your life, not caring who you take down with you. I lost both my sons that night.”

“Don’t stand there and act self righteous. You had every opportunity to make amends with Mom and you let her die. She needed help Frank and you let her drown in sorrow.”

“After your mother died, nothing but revenge clouded my mind. When you left home, you thought you got away with the pain you caused our family. I had to make sure that never happened. So, I paid a few men to feed you drugs. That wasn’t working but I knew it wouldn’t be long. You were walking a dangerous path and it was only a matter of time before you were either killed or over dosed. Either would have been fine. Then you started hanging with Geno’s thugs and I had no control over you anymore. Until you started joining in on the hits that is. I have to admit, Decker is really fucking good at protecting you. However, I knew it was only a matter of time until you strayed. You always did. It wasn’t until you were high out of you mind by yourself and kidnapped that woman and her child that I was actually able to bring you down.”

“Wait, you called the cops?”

“I didn’t call them myself, no, but I made sure it happened. I thought after working with Decker and gaining some of his confidence, you would have put those miserable people out of their misery. You’d still be in prison now and I wouldn’t be putting two more people’s life in danger but I’ll take what I can get.”

“Two?” I ask, confused.

“Come on Fenton, did you think I was going to leave out your sweet Piper?” Rage consumes me and I’m on my feet within seconds. Before I know what is happening, Frank is on the floor with a bloodied lip.

“You’ll want to think about what you’re doing. All it will take is one phone call and she’s dead.”

“Who the fuck has her, Frank?”

“I’m not answering questions. If I feel you need any information, I will supply you with it.”

“You should’ve shot me when you had the opportunity. You’ll be lucky to walk out of here alive; especially if you hurt Piper or Cam.”

“No, shooting you before this big party wouldn’t have been as fun. You’re going to watch the people you love die, just like you made me. You’re going to experience my hurt and I’m going to love every minute of it.” He stands and wipes his bloodied lip with a handkerchief before adding, “Listen, this has been a fun chat but I better go. I’ve more important things to do than to stand here and talk to you all day.”

It isn’t until the door closes that I ask myself why I didn’t try to get out of here. I could kick myself in the ass for not taking him out on that roof. Maybe if I had, none of this would be happening. Piper and Cam wouldn’t be in danger, my bar wouldn’t have been torn to shreds by bullets and I would’ve saved myself the trouble of stepping foot in Geno’s house again. I wonder if he thought his little story earlier was going to make me have a change of heart. He can stand there and talk about how precious his sons were to him all he wants but I know better, I was there. He was demanding of my mother. To this day I don’t know how she put up with him. I occasionally remember being excited when he came home from work and even then those nights were few and far between. He wants to make himself feel better about the shit he put us through.

“Shane, get your hands off of me!”

That voice. Piper’s voice.

“I’m taking what I want, Piper. I couldn’t force you earlier because your fucking dad was around but you’re not getting out of it this time.”

That son of a bitch. Why was he at Piper’s dad’s house with her? Did she lie to me? Was she there with him the whole time?

“You better not touch her you mother fucker!” I scream through the steal walls. I don’t care if she was there with him all weekend, she is mine and I won’t allow him to hurt her.

“Try and stop me, James! Oh that’s right you can’t,”
he laughs just before the sound of slapping seeps through the walls. I swear to God as soon as I can get to him, he’s a dead man. None of this was in the plan.

“Fenton, make him stop!”
she screams.

“I’m trying, baby! Fight as hard as you can.” And pray to God he doesn’t really hurt you before I can get to you.

Clothes ripping and Piper’s scream assault me. I can’t stand here and listen to this shit. I will rip my arm off trying to get this door open. I grab the handle and pull with all my strength and am thrown against the wall when it opens. If I had more time, I may be confused by this. But I don’t. I have to get to my girl. Within seconds, I’m on my feet again heading for the sound of her screams and I pray they don’t haunt my dreams for the rest of my life. Exiting the room, I notice there is a similar door off to my right.

“Shane, please stop. I don’t want this,”
she cries again.

I put my boot through the door but it opens easily. I run in like a wild man but stop as soon as I see Pipers’ naked body under that slime ball.

“Fent, get this bastard off me,” she pleads bringing me back to reality. I rip him off of her and sling him to the side. His head jerks when it bounces off the wall. He lies stunned staring at the ceiling, hopefully watching his life flash in front of him. I take one quick glance at Piper’s assaulted body and her tear stained face and pure rage escalates within. Her eyes find mine and my heart’s ripped to shreds at the fear in them. This should never have happened. I should have taken Frank out when I had the chance. She slides back to the corner of the room and curls up in a ball. I grab her clothes as I make my way to her. I know I need to stay with her but I also have to make sure Cam is ok.

I glance back at Shane to make sure he is still lying there before I move away from him. He’s gone. I was so focused on Piper I didn’t even notice he left.

“Where are you, you little fucking pussy,” I question, screaming toward the hallway.

“Don’t move. I’ll be right back,” I say, kissing her on the forehead before I stand to follow him.

“Don’t leave me, Fenton. He’ll come back.”

Fuck, what am I supposed to do now? I kneel in front of her. She immediately wraps her arms around my waist and snuggles her face into my chest. Her hair is all crunchy and she smells of must, like she’s been in an old room or building. Having her skin next to mine again definitely makes this day so much fucking better. I wish these were better circumstances as I really need to stay and comfort her. Who am I kidding I need her comfort, too.

I knew this was going to be a tricky plan but there was no way around it. I was hoping no one would end up being hurt but there was always the possibility. I just hope they all understand.

“You’ll be fine. I’ll be back as soon as I can,” I whisper, pulling her eyes up to meet mine. I need to let her know she can trust me.

“Fenton!”

Cam’s blood curdling cry pulls my attention from Piper. My eyes meet hers again and the fear has returned. This fucking sucks. I need her to be with me but I don’t have time to wait for her to get dressed. Here’s hoping all three of those bastards are in the same room so I can kill them without having to worry about one of them hurting Piper.