X: The Hard Knocks Complete Story (41 page)

I
t’s odd
, sitting in the back of Mother and Father’s minivan with Xavier. It shocked the hell out of me when Father sent a text this morning, asking if they could drive us to the airport.

The clicking sound is the only thing to be heard inside the cab. None of us have made the first move to say anything, and the ride is the most awkward experience of my life.

Father pulls up to the passenger loading area. “I’ll get the bags.”

“I’ll help him,” Xavier says before jumping out to assist.

Mother turns around in her seat. “Anna, I know this is hard for you. It’s hard for your father, too. But give him a chance. You might be surprised by what you hear.”

I nod and take a deep breath in an attempt to calm my pounding heart.

I make it to the back of the vehicle, and my eyes land on Father shaking Xavier’s hand.

“You take care of my little girl. I’m trusting you to protect her with your life.”

Xavier gives him a half-smile. “She’s in good hands, sir. Nothing will happen to her on my watch.”

He seems to accept that because he nods curtly. As he releases Xavier’s hand, his eyes fall on me. “I’ve missed you.”

My lips twist as I stare at the man who I believed hated me. “You have?”

“Of course I have. You’re my daughter. I care deeply about you and your future, which is why I got so crazy before you left home. I thought you were heading down the wrong path because it wasn’t one that I laid out for you, but I’ve done a lot of praying and talking with my pastor since the day you left.” He bats away a tear from the corner of his eye. “I’ve come to see that what I was doing was wrong, that I shouldn’t try to control you. No one should. You should always be your own person and find your own happiness even if I don’t like how you’ve found it. I’m sorry, Anna. Can you ever forgive me?”

Tears roll down my cheeks. I can’t believe what I’m hearing. Aunt Dee told me that this might happen, but I never expected an actual apology from my father. He’s not the type of man who usually admits when he’s wrong, so I know this was hard for him to do, and he wouldn’t have done it unless he meant it.

I rush over to Father, and he wraps his arms around me.

“I forgive you,” I say.

We stay in each other’s arms, crying together, for a long time, and finally, everything feels complete again.

F
lying back
to Detroit in first class, sitting next to Xavier, I’m on cloud nine. There’s no doubt that we went through some hell to get here, but we made it—together.

We’ve been given a second chance, one where Xavier and I are honest with one another and there are no more secrets.

Quinn was right about one thing. Without trust, a relationship will never survive.

Xavier threads his fingers through mine as the plane lands on the runway. “Do you feel up to apartment-hunting as soon as we get off the plane?”

I nod. “Of course. We can have Quinn drive us to your grandmother’s house, so we can get your stuff first and get a hotel. Then, we can head out.”

He leans his head back against the headrest and sighs. “We need to borrow a car.”

I tilt my head. “Something wrong with the bike?”

He rolls his head against the seat and gazes down at me. “No. I just don’t want you on the back of it. I’ve got to keep you and my baby safe.”

I bite my bottom lip to keep myself from jumping his bones. When he gets all protective like this, it’s sexy, but it’s even more attractive now because he’s worried about the baby too. I like that he’s fully invested in this pregnancy with me.

I kiss his lips. “Okay,
Daddy
.”

He gives me one of his best panty-soaking grins. “Keep it up, and I’ll have you calling me that when we’re alone with your legs over my shoulders.”

I giggle. “I wouldn’t exactly call that a threat.”

He leans in and nips my earlobe. “God, I want to fuck you so bad right now,” he growls.

He takes my hand and lays it over the crotch of his jeans. There’s no mistaking the hard cock that’s standing up, waiting on my attention.

“Maybe we should skip the apartment-shopping and spend the rest of the day in bed.”

Heat from where his lips kiss the soft skin beneath my ear causes a tingle to rip through my body.

“Sounds like a plan to me. I’ll take a day buried inside that sweet pussy of yours anytime.”

I squirm in my seat, trying to ease the ache between my legs.

Xavier chuckles. “Patience, baby. Save it all for later, and I assure you , I’ll give you the best toe-curling sex you’ve ever had.”

“Promise?” I whisper, loving it when he makes guarantees of pleasure.

“Yes.”

It feels like it takes forever to get off the plane, gather our bags, and then make it outside to where Quinn is waiting next to her Honda for us. I shield my eyes from the setting sun as we head over to her.

“There’s the champ!”

Xavier grins, and it’s easy to see the pride on his face. Winning the belt has been a dream for him, and it was an amazing experience to be by his side while it happened.

“Oh my God, I can’t believe you’re engaged! I should totally start a matchmaking business. I called this from the start,” Quinn rambles on a mile a minute, her excitement clear. “You two looked great on television last night, by the way. Anna, I especially liked when you smacked that Rex guy in the face. It looked real.”

I laugh as I hug my cousin. “I rather enjoyed that part myself. It’s good to see you, Quinn.”

“I liked that part, too,” Xavier interjects from behind us.

“I’ll bet,” Quinn adds. “The guy had it coming. He’s been a complete asshole to you.”

“Yes, he has, but now that Xavier’s won the belt from him, I don’t see him looking for a rematch anytime soon. He knows he’ll never beat Xavier in a fair fight.”

“I agree,” Quinn says as she pops the trunk for Xavier to load our bags. “I think Phenomenal X will be the champ for a long time.”

“He does make a pretty great champion.” I wrap my arms around Xavier’s waist after he closes the trunk.

“So, when’s the wedding?” Quinn’s eyes flit from me to Xavier and then back again. “You seem
different
. Is there anything other than the engagement I should know about?”

I glance up to Xavier, as if to ask his permission to tell my cousin about the secret we’re keeping.

He smiles and nods. “Tell her.”

“Oh, shit. There is something. The suspense is killing me,” Quinn whines.

I lock my gaze with Quinn’s, and instantly, I’m smiling. “I’m pregnant.”

Her mouth drops open, and her eyes widen before she launches into a full-on scream. “Oh. My. God! A
baby
?”

I nod, and without warning, she lunges forward and throws her arms around me and Xavier.

“Congratulations! This is amazing. Wait until Ma finds out. She’ll be thrilled.” Suddenly, she gasps and pulls back to search my face. “Does Uncle Simon know?”

I take a deep breath. “They know. They came to see me in Portland.”

Her mouth pulls down on one side. “How’d that go? Was there a lot of yelling this time?”

I sigh, and Xavier tucks me in closer to his side.

“Surprisingly, no. Don’t get me wrong. They still don’t think it’s fantastic news that their only daughter is pregnant and unmarried, but they do seem to understand that Xavier is the man I’m with, and nothing they do will change that. I think things will eventually work themselves out.”

“That’s great news. I’m so excited for the both of you.”

Xavier clears his throat. “Now that you know, my next request won’t sound so odd.”

Quinn raises one eyebrow. “What’s that?”

“Can I borrow your car for the next couple of days? I want to take Anna apartment-hunting and ring-shopping, and being on the back of my bike isn’t safe enough for her anymore.”

My mouth drops open, and at the same time, Quinn covers her mouth with her hands.

I stare up at Xavier. “
Rings
?”

He nods. “Of course. A ring will make it official. I want everyone in the world to know you’re mine and an expensive piece of jewelry will remind anyone who sees it that you’re taken.”

He leans in and crushes his mouth to mine, and I know this is just the beginning to the rest of our life together.

X
avier parks
Quinn’s Honda in the driveway of the house on Sycamore. This house, it creeps me the hell out of me now. It’s a wonder Xavier was ever able to step foot back in here after all the things that had happened to him.

He sighs and cuts the engine. “I won’t be long. I’ll run in and get my things, and then we’ll go find a hotel to check in to.” He leans over the console and kisses my cheek.

I smile. “I’ll be right here.”

I release a content sigh as I lean my head back against the seat and close my eyes. I finally feel like things are going my way, that things are working out the way they are supposed to.

My door yanks open, startling the crap out of me, and my eyes snap open along with it. The minute I look over to see who opened the door, I slink back into my seat.

“Get out of the car, bitch,” Kai snarls as he points a dull black gun in my face. When I don’t move, he shouts at me again, “You think I’m playing? I’ll blow your fucking head off if you don’t get your ass out of this motherfucking car.”

My hands shake uncontrollably as I hold them out in front of me. “Okay, okay. I have to unbuckle my seat belt.”

He shoves the gun against my temple, and my stomach drops. “Well, unhook the motherfucker.”

My left hand slips down, and I press the button, freeing me from the car. Kai reaches in and yanks me by the arm out of the car.

I stumble and fall to the ground, but he grabs the hair on top of my head and forces me back to my feet.

“Let’s go.”

“Xavier will be back out here any minute,” I threaten as Kai continues to push me at gunpoint toward the black SUV parked down the street.

Kai laughs darkly. “I hope he does because I’m going to kill that bitch-ass sellout.”

The moment he says that, Xavier’s voice calls out my name.

Kai turns to look back just in time to see Xavier jumping off the porch. Before Xavier’s feet fully land, another man who was hiding on the other side of the porch tackles Xavier midair. He grunts as he hits the ground. From neighboring yard, an additional man sprints over and kicks Xavier in the gut.

“Xavier!” I scream.

Kai backhands me across the face. “Shut up!” he orders as he turns back to watch the attack.

A metallic taste covers my tongue, and I clutch my face as it stings like fire.

I’ve never felt so helpless, so lost on finding a way to Xavier, while I’m forced to stand there and watch.

Both men beat Xavier while he lies on the ground, and then one of them kicks Xavier in the face, instantly knocking him out.

“No!” I scream, not caring if it earns me another hit from Kai. Tears pour out of my eyes as Kai tightens his grip on my arm. “Xavier, get up!”

The two men back away from an unmoving Xavier.

“Fuck!” Kai shouts. “You dumb shits. You weren’t supposed to kill him here. Our prints are all over that fucking house.”

“What do you want us to do?” the bigger of the two men asks.

Kai dismissively waves his hand. “Burn this shit to the ground, and leave him.”

The men nod, and as if Kai is a general and they are foot soldiers, they go into the house to, no doubt, carry out orders.

“Come on.” Kai shoves me forward while still holding the gun on me.

He shoves me into the backseat and slides in next to me.

Within a few minutes, an unmistakable orange light flickers out onto the darkened lawn, and the two men run toward the truck.

As we drive past the house, Xavier’s body is still lying in the same place. I lean my head against the window, unsure of what’s about to happen to me. But, without Xavier, I don’t care either way. Without him, my world means nothing.

A
voice comes
through the fog of my brain and tries over and over to wake me up, but it’s a real struggle for me to open my eyes.

“Xavier? Can you hear me, man?”

My eyelids drag open, and I attempt to cure the blurry vision. “Where is she? Where’s Anna?”

Cole’s face comes into focus, and his brows furrow. “There’s no one here but you.”

I lean up onto my elbows, and light from the flames licking their way up the sides of Grandmother’s house illuminates the entire block. “Holy shit!”

I rush to get up, but Cole puts his hand on my shoulder. The light catches the gold of Cole’s badge, and the swirling red and blue lights from the top of his cruiser flash across his face.

“Easy, big guy. You need to stay put.”

I shove his hand away and push myself up onto my feet. “Cole, they’ve taken Anna. I’ll kill them before I allow them to hurt her.”

Anger boils over inside me. I will get her back.

Cole steps in front of me. “Hold on, X. Let me call for—”

“There’s no time for that shit.”

“Then, let me go with you.”

I keep walking. “I can’t have you risk your life, too. Call the fire department and take care of this. I’m going to get Anna.”

I don’t give Cole time to argue anymore. I sprint to Quinn’s car, hop inside, and crank the engine to life. The tires squeal against the asphalt as I back out of the driveway, and then I slam the transmission into drive.

There’s only one way to handle this—the only way people like Kai and Bishop handle problems—with brute force. That’s how I’m going to take back what’s mine.

The wheels on the little silver car damn near fall off as they scream through the streets of Detroit, finding the way to Nettie’s. I rush through the front door, and at first, Nettie smiles at me, ready to greet me, but then she takes in the expression on my face.

“Xavier?”

I don’t answer her.

I sprint to the stockroom and lift the twin mattress that I slept on for years to locate an old shoebox. Inside, I uncover the Beretta I used to carry when I worked for Bishop. I pick up the gun, double-check the magazine to make sure it has bullets, and then load it back into the gun.

Nettie walks in just in time to see me shoving the gun into the waistband of my jeans. “What the hell are you doing?”

I frown, hating that I’m disappointing her, but this is the only way to handle the situation. “Bishop has Anna.”

Nettie’s eyes widen. “No, Xavier. Don’t go there alone.”

“I have to, Nettie. They’ll kill her if I don’t.”

Nettie swallows hard, and tears fill her eyes. She knows better than anyone that there’s truth to what I’m saying. She’s seen the violence created by Bishop and his gang, the Block, and she knows that the body count they’ve racked up means they aren’t afraid to kill.

I hug Nettie and kiss the top of her head, and then I rush out the back door of the restaurant to get my bike.

I fire up the engine, and it roars through the streets until I pull up to the building where Kai took me when all of this began. The bike is loud, and I’m sure it’s signaled my arrival, but I don’t give a shit. Nothing will stop me from getting to Anna.

I go in the same way Kai took me through. Only, this time, I don’t make it to the bar Bishop built inside. When I round the corner, sitting in the middle of the empty warehouse, tied to a chair, is my Anna.

I rush over to her, and I immediately drop to my knees and untie her ropes. “Where are they, Anna?”

“I don’t know,” she whimpers. “They brought me here, and I haven’t seen them much since then. I think they went into some room behind me.”

I glance over her shoulder and spot the door to the club. Can freeing her really be this easy? It’s unlike Bishop to leave bait unattended like this when he really wants to get to someone.

“You okay? Did they hurt you?”

“I’m fine. Just get me out of here.”

Relief floods me, and I work faster to untie the last knot. When it’s finished, I grab Anna’s hand and kiss her lips. “Come on.”

Before Anna makes it out of the chair, a slow clap sounds from behind me.

“We were beginning to wonder if the boys really did kill you. It took you a while to get here.”

I turn slowly to find Bishop, Kai, and two other men. “I don’t want any trouble. I just want to take Anna and go.”

Bishop rubs the scruff on his chin. “Well, that’s the problem now, isn’t it? People always tend to want what they can’t have. You haven’t agreed to what I want from you, yet you expect me to hand over what you want? You and I both know the world doesn’t work like that, X.”

“I told you the truth before. I don’t have any money to start a business with you.”

Bishop shakes his finger at me. “It’s not nice to lie to an old friend. I read your tax statements. You made nearly four hundred thousand dollars last year. You’re good for it.”

“Did you also read that half of that went toward my travel and business expenses, and the other half went back to Tension in fines?”

“So, you have nothing?”

“Like I told you, I. Don’t. Fucking. Have. It.”

Bishop sighs. “That’s a shame because I can’t let you go now. I can’t have you pinning a kidnapping charge on me and my boys, so I’m afraid you can’t leave.” He pushes the glasses on his face up the tip of his nose as he turns to Kai. “Kill him. Kill them both.”

Hearing his order, I reach for my gun and yank Anna behind me. I point my weapon directly at Bishop. “If he pulls that trigger, I will kill you. Hell, I should anyhow for trying to take away the thing I love most in this world.”

Bishop grins. “There’s the old X again. I have to tell you, I like him much better than this new let’s-talk-everything-out X. Old X knew how to get shit done.”

“Old X was a hotheaded idiot who fucked up his life all the time because he couldn’t control his temper.”

Bishop chuckles. “You really believe you’ve changed that much?”

“Yes,” I say with the sternest tone I can muster.

“Prove it. Walk out of here without throwing a single punch.”

I lift my eyebrows. “What?”

“I don’t buy this whole nonviolence bullshit act, so prove me wrong. If I’m convinced, I might let you go.”

“Just like that?”

He nods and confirms, “
Just like that
. I want to see this new X in action because the X I knew would’ve ripped my head off and spit down my throat for less. I don’t believe you’re any different from the man I once knew, from the hungry, angry kid I met all those years ago.”

I clutch Anna’s hand tighter, but I still keep my gun drawn as I pull her toward the men. I tiptoe around them, and he’s right. I would love to tear into these motherfuckers, but I know getting Anna out of here in one piece is more important.

Once we’ve made it all around them, I keep walking backward toward the exit. “This ends here, Bishop.”

This is the first time in my life I’ve ever walked away from a fight. It’s baffling even to me, considering this is the one time I’ve ever had a good reason to go berserk and rip someone’s head off.

“I still don’t believe you,” Bishop says.

I choose to ignore him.

As I turn away from him, Anna releases a blood-curdling scream. “He’s got a gun!”

My eyes widen.

This could be the moment when it all ends.

This could be the moment when my world turns black.

I point the gun at Bishop, waiting to see if he’s going to force me to pull the trigger.

The sound of my pulse thudding inside my head is the only sound I hear as everything around me seems to move in slow motion as Bishop and I stare one another down.

“Make your move, bitch,” Bishop taunts.

My chest rises and then falls as I ask God to protect my family.

The sound of glass crashing jerks all of our attention behind Bishop.

Police, with the word
SWAT
written across the backs of their black uniforms, storm through the windows. The men land all around us. “Everyone, get on the ground!”

I grab Anna’s hand and pull her down with me. In these situations, it’s best to comply even if you aren’t the person doing anything wrong.

“What’s happening?” she cries as cops come over to us.

An officer kneels beside me and removes his helmet and glasses. “You all right, X? Anna?”

I raise my chin and spot Cole wearing black tactical gear. “What in the hell’s going on, Cole?”

He reaches down and helps Anna and then me up off the concrete floor. “I’ve been working on busting Bishop for years. When he kidnapped Anna, it was the last piece we needed to take him down.”

I glance over to where officers are cuffing Kai, Bishop, and his goons.

“Federico Bishop, you are formally charged with kidnapping, attempted murder, assault, racketeering, felon in possession of a firearm, drug possession…”

The list of things he’s being charged with seems to be never-ending.

Something tells me that Bishop and Kai won’t be getting out of prison anytime soon. That should make this neighborhood a hell of a lot safer for everyone in it, including Anna and me.

As Anna clings to me, I kiss the top of her head. “You all right?”

She nods. “I’m okay.”

Cole’s radio squawks. “Code ten fifty-four at house fire located at ten twenty Sycamore.”

Cole’s gaze flicks to me. “Why the fuck is there a dead body in your place, X?”

My eyes widen. “
What
?”

“That’s what that code means. Was there anyone in that house, other than you and Anna, when it caught fire?”

“No,” Anna speaks up. “Kai had the two guys who were just in here with him set the fire after they knocked Xavier out.”

“No one was in the house when I was there,” I confirm.

Cole raises his eyebrows. “Then, I suggest you get your ass over there and see what’s going on. I’ll handle all this.”

“You sure?”

He nods. “I’ll even walk you out.”

“Thanks, man. I owe you one.” I shake his hand.

“I’ll remember that when I need people to testify against Bishop.”

“Abso-fucking-lutely count me in on that shit,” I tell him. “I’ll do all that I can to help.”

A
nna
and I race back to Grandmother’s house on my bike. It wasn’t my first choice to put her on the back of my ride, but seeing as the situation is an emergency, I had to get over it.

After I park my bike, I rush under the yellow police caution tape.

“You! Stop right there,” one of the officers orders.

I point toward the house where smoke is still rolling out of the front door, but the visible flames are long gone. “This is my house. I own it.”

The heavyset cop motions me toward him. “Shit, man, what happened to your face?”

I wave him off. “It’s nothing.”

Gauging by his reaction, I must look pretty rough. I will probably feel just how much Kai’s men fucked up my face in the morning, but for now, my adrenaline is pumping so hard that I don’t feel much pain at all.

He shrugs. “Follow me.” He leads us over to a tall, skinny man wearing a suit, standing next to an open trunk on a police cruiser. “Detective Greyson, this is the homeowner.”

The lanky detective with sandy-blond hair gives me a once-over and then flips out a notepad without asking about my injuries. “Name?”

“Xavier Cold.”

His suspicious eyes jerk to me. “Age?”

“Twenty-eight.” I lift one eyebrow. “What does this have to do with anything?”

Detective Greyson sighs. “The fire did not completely destroy the upstairs area. During the sweep of the house, the firefighters entered a bedroom that was padlocked from the outside. A body was located in the closet of that room, behind a false wall. From the looks of things, the mummified body had been there for quite some time, making it unidentifiable, but it was well preserved in several layers of plastic. Ironically, the corpse did have identification. The name on the ID was Xavier Cold.”

My head jerks back. “What? It had my name on it?”

“Not exactly.” He reaches into his trunk, pulls out a plastic baggie labeled
Evidence
, and holds it up for my inspection.

Inside the clear plastic is the state ID he’s talking about. The picture staring back at me might as well be my own reflection. A man with long dark hair, crystal-blue eyes, and a smirk is a man named Xavier Cold, born in 1968.

“Oh my God,” Anna murmurs next to me, seeing exactly what I see. “Is that your father?”

I bite my lower lip. “Looks that way. I never knew his name or saw his picture. Mom always said he ran off.”

“We also found a diary in the same closet.” He holds up another baggie. “We found this page especially incriminating, so we left it open as we put it in the bag because it clearly tells us who killed this man. Can you tell me if Irma Winslow had any mental health problems?”

“Who is Irma Winslow?” Anna asks.

“That’s the name inscribed inside the diary,” Detective Greyson says.

“She was my grandmother,” I confirm for her. Then, I turn to address the detective. “She was an evil bitch, but I don’t know of any diagnosed problems.”

“Well,” he says, “if you ever had any question if she did or not, check out what’s written here.”

He points to the open pages, and I lean in to read the scribbled mess.

T
oday was the day
. I ended him, God, just like you said to do. I couldn’t allow the evil monster to take away my Gina, so I stopped him.

The only problem is, his evil seed is already implanted in my daughter, so I have to figure out a way to get rid of his spawn. Gina won’t believe me when I tell her about the devil. She doesn’t believe that Satan tried to take her away from me, but I do.

I
slowly blow
a breath between my pursed lips as the things she wrote sinks in.

“Heavy shit, right? If she’s referring to you in this insane rambling, you’re lucky you’re still here.” The cop pulls the baggie away and puts it back into the evidence box. “The coroner will be able to give us an approximation of how long the victim has been deceased and the cause of death, but I’m guessing this man has been in that closet for a long, long time.”