Wicked Nights (25 page)

He left the hotel and it didn’t take too long to get back to the clubhouse. The first order of business was to handle the disposal of Jesse’s body. For now, the heat was off Wicked Angels, but if something came up, all hell could break loose. Killing a police officer was a huge ordeal. Something every criminal in the country knew. Nearly everyone frowned upon it, and it didn’t matter if the police officer was a crazy bastard with a sick mind. He wore the badge so that made him part of the good guys.

The police car had been at the Wicked Angel’s MC for far too long, so Chuck decided to go on a joy ride around town before dumping it in a crime riddled section away from the city. Mason tried his best to keep his mind off Addison, but at certain times she would be all he’d think about. He finally gave up and went home, deciding to spend his time mulling over what he had. He opened a new bottle of expensive scotch and grabbed a glass. He was sure
Dirty Jobs
was on Discovery and decided to make a night out of it.

Chapter Twelve

Addison spent two hours after she arrived at a hotel with her cell phone in her hand. She paced the floor, going over in her mind the outcome of calling the cops and turning Mason in. Her instinct told her to make the call. He’d committed a crime and she was a witness to that crime. Not reporting it would fall on her.

But he’d done it for her. Albeit, she could have thought of a more humane way of taking care of Jesse, but she understood Mason’s perspective. He was protective. He said that he thought Jesse was hurting her and she couldn’t deny that. Jesse scared the crap out of her, which only made her decision more difficult.

Addison set the phone aside and went to the bathroom. She splashed water on her face and stared at herself in the mirror. It may not be ideal, but even though she should dial 9-1-1, she simply couldn’t do it.

Nothing about this situation should be difficult. She was a lawyer. She was expected to uphold the law. So why was this so tough? It should be so freaking easy to punch in those three numbers and tell whoever answered that her ex-lover had killed a police officer. Of course, Mason would probably get life in prison, if not the death penalty, and she’d never see him again.

Jesse would win.

The thought of Jesse winning made her pause. That’s what he’d wanted. He’d wanted her to see Mason lose control. He’d wanted her to see him the way Jesse thought him to be. The outlaw biker doing the one thing he knew she couldn’t stand.

She’d represented many types of criminals in her career, but she’d never taken a murder case. Not before Mason, that was, and now she considered where she stood. He’d lied to her. Not only that, he didn’t think anything of it. She’d asked him more than once over the course of the past five months if he had ever murdered anyone. The state attorney had even tried to use it against him and she’d stood up for him like the dumb fool she was.

She shook her head, staring down at the sink. It muddled her mind even more. His behaviour couldn’t be excused. She couldn’t ignore the way he ran his so-called business. He made it clear that a regard for honesty didn’t take a high priority in his life, which only made their relationship more complicated. How could she be with someone who kept some very important, and illegal, things from her?

She went back to the bedroom and sat on the end of the bed. She’d been with him for a while and it felt so foreign to be alone. She used to like her solitary life. She could do whatever the hell she wanted without anyone expecting anything from her.

Addison groaned into the silence. She couldn’t stand it anymore. She had to make a decision once and for all. She took a deep breath and finally dialled the number.

“Addison?”

She smiled. “Hey, Daddy. How have you been?”

“Good. Real good. How have you been? I heard about the judge calling you. That’s great news.”

Ah, Jesse. How the hell did she clear that up with her father?

She closed her eyes, reliving that nightmare. “Jesse isn’t my boyfriend, Dad. I need to tell you that. He has been stalking me for nearly three years. He told me that he visited you and that he gave you the impression that we were dating. He…he’s not who you think he is.”

The line went silent and she forced the emotion she felt back. Her father was the last person who needed to know anything about what had happened with the Skulls, and he definitely didn’t need to know anything about Jesse being dead. She huffed a breath and stared at the picture on the wall.

“Okay. Addison, you sound different. Are you okay? Do you need me to come up there? I can. I’ve got a light day tomorrow. Everything can be postponed.”

A tear escaped her eye and she shook her head although he couldn’t see her. “No, Daddy. I’m fine. I just wanted to talk to you. I’m sorry I had to let you know that I never dated that man. He was jealous of my real boyfriend and he’s been causing some trouble. I don’t even know when it started, but I got a restraining order.”

She had filled out the document after she’d gone to see the judge. Tension filled her body and she tried to forget Jesse. Each time she thought about him, she remembered the way his blood had splattered her skin, warm and sticky. She remembered the weight of his body as it had fallen on her, knocking her back against the wall. She was sure to have a bruise on her shoulder in the morning since she already felt the pain of it now.

“Addison, maybe you need to take some time off? You could come home.”

She closed her eyes. “I actually haven’t been working, Daddy. My office got shot up. A motorcycle gang didn’t like someone I defended and they came after me.”

“What?” His tone changed from the loving father to the cold judge.

“Look, I’m fine. I didn’t get hurt and I won’t get hurt. Jesse was a bigger issue than a whole motorcycle gang.”

“Addison, I’m coming up there. I’ll be there in the morning.”

She cringed. “Daddy, I said I’m okay.”

“Yeah? How do I know that? You’re on your cell phone. You could be laid up in a hospital bed for all I know. Why the hell did you not call me when this was happening? You could have come here where I know you would have been safe. You know how damn hard I try to keep those kinds of gangs out of my city. Obviously, the law officials in Tampa are not doing the same. They hire crooked cops, who stalk my daughter, then let motorcycle gangs shoot up her office.”

“And set fire to my house.” She cringed and hurried on saying, “I’m fine though, Daddy.”

“They set your house on fire?”

“Yeah. A few days ago.”

“Where are you staying?”

She swallowed. “It’s complicated. Right now, the Hampton.”

“Yeah, well, I’ll see for myself tomorrow.”

She sighed. Why had she called him when she’d known that would be his answer? Maybe she wanted him to come up to see her and wipe away all her problems. She told herself that it wasn’t the answer, but she knew in some way that her dad would do just that. With a little bit of information, he went a long way. If he came to Tampa, he’d probably find out about the Wicked Angels MC and have Mason arrested for even thinking about touching his daughter.

Mason. She still didn’t know if she was pregnant yet. Problems of all calibres seemed to keep piling up on her. Her mind couldn’t even comprehend the future while her present was so messed up.

“Can I talk to Mom?”

“Yeah, just a minute.” He passed the phone off and Addison waited.

“Addison, what’s wrong?”

She cringed at the next part of her conversation. “I was wondering… There might be a chance that I’m, uh…” Oh, God, how did she get to this point? “I might, uh, be pregnant. I need to take a test.”

Her mother stayed silent for an eerie amount of time. “Do what? When was your last period?”

She did some quick mental calculations. “Nearly four weeks ago.”

“Addison, how could you be so irresponsible?” Her mother’s voice rose. She had a cool temperament and Addison had only heard her raise her voice a handful of times in her life. She didn’t like being on the receiving end of it.

“Look, you don’t know what I’ve been through, okay?” She felt the tears welling up. “It just happened, and I need to know which fucking test to buy.”

“Don’t take that language with me.” Her mother let out a breath. “Any of the name brand tests will do. Were you hurt? Addison, is that what is going on?”

She felt her body go numb. “No. Mom, I just need to know what test to buy. Dad’s coming up here tomorrow, so I guess we’ll all find out if you’re going to be grandparents soon enough.”

Addison closed her eyes. Her mother was a registered OB/GYN nurse. If anyone knew, it would be her. But she also didn’t want the motherly crap from her. The good girl didn’t sleep around. Her parents probably thought she was still a virgin.

“I’ll let you go. I’m going to run to the store.”

“Addison, wait. You don’t sound good, honey. Are you sure everything is okay? Having a baby is not the end of the world.”

“I’ve had people shooting at me and I’ve had some crazed cop stalking me. I’ve had my house torched. I’ve seen things that I never wanted to see and I really wish someone could erase it all from my mind. All of which happened in a very short period of time.”

“What?” Her mother sounded horrified, which only made her want to disconnect faster.

“I need to find out the answer to my pregnancy ordeal. I’m going to let you go and make my way to the store.”

She disconnected and regretted having that conversation completely. She was a highly educated woman. She should be able to find a fucking pregnancy test and take it without the help of anyone. But Addison knew she wanted her mom’s help. She’d thought her mom would be there for her, but she’d been wrong about that. She’d accused her of being irresponsible.

Fucking surprise.

She called Ashley and asked her to pick her up. They drove to the store and Addison bought three name brand pregnancy tests. She also bought some water and potato chips while she was there.

“Is it Mason’s?”

Addison nodded as they headed down the road towards the hotel again. “I’m hoping it’s nothing, but I need to know.”

“Did you break up?”

“You could say that.” She opened the water and drank. She didn’t want to talk about Mason with her assistant. She didn’t want to talk about him with anyone.

“Do you need anything else?”

“Nah. I’ll call you in the morning. Thanks for everything.” Addison waved her off and headed inside the hotel.

The stupid test said to take it in the morning, but Addison couldn’t control what time it was. She opened it up and took the first one, setting it aside afterward.

She thought the most nerve-racking test she’d ever take was the bar exam, but she’d been wrong. She’d obviously been wrong about a lot of things. Once the time was up, she glanced at the readout then at the instructions.

Not pregnant.

She took a deep breath and fell to the floor, staring at the little stick. The overwhelming emotion of the day, plus the results shook her once again. How did her life get so fucked up? She closed her eyes as the one last tie to Mason evaporated. Her mind was rejoicing, but her body ached. She vowed to take another test in the morning, just to be sure.

Eventually, Addison stood and flipped off the lights, heading to bed. It’d been one hell of a day and she couldn’t wait to get it behind her. She crawled in between the sheets and closed her eyes.

Sleep evaded her throughout the night. When she did doze off, she had nightmares. Then she couldn’t rest and laid there staring at the ceiling. The nightmares scared the shit out of her to the point she woke up sweaty. She sat up and threw the covers back, searching for her phone.

Her heart felt like someone had sliced it in two. She knew if she called him, he would come over. He would comfort her and give her exactly what she wanted. She wanted his touch. She wanted to taste him and feel him against her. Her vision blurred as she searched for the phone, her mind in a bigger mess than it had been before.

Calling him would only make her a liar, though. She didn’t need him. She needed to stay away from him. Instead of dialling him up, she set her phone beside her in the bed, struggling to find sleep for the rest of the night. Eventually, she lay there long enough that the sun shone through the gap in the curtains. With a tired body and an even more fatigued mind, she decided to get up and prepare for the parental visit from Hell.

Even if they treated her like a little girl, she still needed her family, now more than ever. She pulled on some jeans and found a shirt. Her hair went back in a tie and she threw on a little makeup. She prided herself in making it the complete night without Mason. She’d only thought about him nearly a thousand times while lying awake, but it really didn’t matter anymore.

As expected, her father arrived at precisely nine, her mother joining him. She unlocked the door and put on her best smile, though her father didn’t look too pleased. She welcomed them into her room and hugged them briefly as they passed. Calling her parents and spilling her guts in an emotional state had probably been a really bad idea.

“Are you pregnant?” her father asked.

She cleared her throat. “No.”

“Who is the guy you’ve been sleeping with?”

She didn’t want to get into this with him. All the things Jesse had said about her father and gangs were true. He hated them. He’d spent most of his career fighting against them. He wouldn’t understand about her and Mason, not that that was really an issue anymore.

“Dad, I don’t need this right now.” She went to the bed and sat.

“You don’t need what, right now?”

“This. I’m not a child, and more importantly, I’m not a criminal. Stop treating me as such.”

He leaned on the tall chest of drawers. “You’re not going to introduce your family to your boyfriend?”

“I don’t have a boyfriend.”

He let out a breath. “Addison, what is going on with you?”

“I told you on the phone.”

He stared at her. “Have you been doing something illegal?”

She frowned at him. “No.”