“No, Melody didn’t show up. May was the one who slept with my boyfriend. Like with Melody, I came home early and found them together. By this time, we’d just moved into an apartment together. I puked when I saw them. She just smirked and he tried to tell me it was a mistake. I grabbed some of my clothes and I left. He kept calling and I wouldn’t answer. Three days later, I took off in the middle of the night and I never looked back. I moved around some and then ended up here in Hunters Creek. Until Melody showed up at the clubhouse three months ago, I hadn’t seen or heard from either of them.”
By now she was sobbing, and her body was shaking. The rage running through me was almost more than I could contain. I wanted to hunt down everyone who’d ever hurt her and kill them all with my bare hands. But she didn’t need my anger right now. She needed my comfort. I held her in my arms as she cried herself to sleep.
When I was sure she was out, I eased her onto the mattress and stepped outside. I was surprised to still see Bull and Demon there. They both gave me hard looks. I knew what that meant. They’d heard what she said.
Demon spoke first. “Don’t worry, brother, we’ll find those evil bitches and take care of them once and for all. And if we ever run into those two dickheads she had as boyfriends, they won’t like what we do to them. You worry about her and your baby. Speaking of the baby, what are you two having?” I knew he was trying to distract me. I was thankful. I looked at Bull.
“It looks like you, me, and Rebel will need more guns. We’re having a girl and you know she’ll look like her momma.” He chuckled and clapped me on the back.
“Don’t worry, I have plenty of guns and more on the way. So does Rebel. You worry about taking care of them. We’ll take care of finding those bitches and their goons, and look into what happened with her dad. Something doesn’t sit right about that whole thing.”
“You think one or both of them had something to do with his death?”
“It’s worth looking into. It would be helpful to know how much money we’re talking about here. Outlaw can find out, but it would be quicker to ask her. She said she will be twenty-three and her birthday is next month. We don’t have a lot of time.”
“I turn twenty-three on March thirteenth.” Jessica’s soft voice came from the doorway. I turned to find her standing there with her IV pole.
“Baby, why aren’t you in bed asleep?” I chastised her as I swept her up in my arms and carried her back to bed. Demon pushed the pole and Bull came in, closing the door behind us. I laid her down and pulled up the covers.
“I woke up because you weren’t with me. I heard you guys talking about my birthday and when it was.” Good. She hadn’t heard the first part.
“Okay, so now I know your birthday. How much money are you going to inherit? Why are they after yours? You said they didn’t get as much as you did. Wasn’t it enough to live on?”
“They got less than me, but it should have been more than enough for them to live on. They blew it is what I understood from what I heard when they had me captive. I have to check with Dad’s lawyer to know an exact amount since the money has been invested over the last three years. It has increased if the investments paid off. I bet it did. My dad had very smart people who did his investments.”
“Okay, how much?” It sounded like she’d be coming into several hundreds of thousands of dollars, maybe. She could use that for the kids’ college funds or something. I had enough money to take care of her and our kids.
“As of last accounting, it was forty million dollars.” I sat down on the bed with a thump. Bull and Demon were looking at her with their mouths open. I could tell Demon was stunned and Bull was pleased for her. Shit, my old lady was about to be a multi-millionaire! Fuck me.
I sat there stunned. She looked up at me. “Are you alright, Ajax?”
“Yeah, just not expecting you to say that much. Damn, no wonder they want it. But why were you working at the bakery and living in that tiny apartment? Couldn’t you have gotten an advance to live on or something?” I couldn’t figure out why she’d been living so simply when we met. She shrugged.
“Probably, but I never asked. I could work. I didn’t want to sit around doing nothing. I plan to give a bunch of it away when I inherit it. I don’t need all that. Money doesn’t make people happy. In fact, it makes most people very unhappy. The more they have, the more they want and the unhappier they become.”
No truer words had been spoken. While I made a decent living, I didn’t spend a lot. I had my truck and bike and a few other things. Now we’d have the house. I wondered if she would be happy with it or want more. I might need to up things if she’s going to be wanting to spend that money.
Jessica:
I watched the various emotions flitter across Ajax’s face. I’d seen his disgust with what had happened with my past boyfriends. His anger at them and more so my stepmom and stepsister. His unexpected response to learning we were going to have a daughter. And finally, his amazement at finding out I had millions.
I admit we’d lived in a very grandiose fashion with the expected mansion, multiple homes, fancy cars, society shit. I hated it. We hadn’t lived like that until May came into our lives. She was the one always wanting to have more and be better than those around her. She used her looks and her fake sincerity to suck in people, just like she did my dad.
He had bought into her façade. At least he did until the end. I’m not sure he didn’t suspect something was wrong with him. I found out after he died and the lawyer read the will, that he’d changed it a week before he died. He’d left some of the cars and a house a piece to May and Melody, and he gave them each two million dollars each. They’d been livid when they found out the other houses, cars, and assets had been left to me along with money.
“I immediately had the lawyer sell the houses and cars. I didn’t need or want them. I preferred things much simpler. I took the money and gave it to charity. He’d also set up my college fund which was separate from the rest of my inheritance. As soon as those were disposed of, I went as far away as I could to go to school. Luckily, those two had stayed away. Or at least they did until May came around.”
Looking back, I knew I’d never loved Johnny or Ricardo. I wanted to because I wanted to feel loved, something that had been lacking for years in my life. It hurt what they did to me, but it was nothing compared to the hurt I felt when I thought Ajax had succumbed to Melody’s wiles.
It had felt like my heart had been ripped from my chest. The first month in Colorado was the worst. It was all I could do to get out of bed every day and go to work. However, I didn’t want to let Dolly down after she’d been so kind and then I discovered I was pregnant.
Dolly had insisted I go to the doctor because of my excessive tiredness, feeling sick, and looking so pale. I hadn’t thought for a moment I was pregnant. Even though looking back, I should have. I hadn’t had a period in over two months, but I’d been in a fog.
When I found out, I was stunned but also overjoyed. I might not have Ajax, but I would always have a part of him. I knew that I loved him. I wrestled with the knowledge of this child. Dolly had encouraged me to tell him, that he had a right to know. A part of me agreed. But another part argued that he wouldn’t want a thing to do with the baby or me, so why tell him. There was no way I’d let him and Melody around my child.
Watching him now, I had to wonder, was he only acting like this because he felt it was expected? I didn’t want him to feel pressured to be in the baby’s life. That wouldn’t make any of us happy. Nor did I want him to start out acting like a caring father, only to fade away later. Taking a deep breath, I gathered my courage. I had to tell him.
“Kellan, I think we need to talk about this.” Bull and Demon quietly stepped out of the room.