“Now go before I teach you how to fuck in the backseat of a car.”
“Keiran!” I rolled my eyes, lifted her, and placed her in her seat before buckling her in. When she continued to stare at me with a mixture of disbelief and curiosity, I took her keys from her hand and placed them in the ignition, starting the car. “Don’t worry, babe. I’ll still teach you—just not here.” I quickly kissed her lips and slammed the door. I hung back to watch her drive off.
When the taillights of her car were no longer in sight, I turned to head for the gym. A steady buzzing sound filtered up from the inside of my jeans so I fished my phone out. An unknown number flashed across the screen and my entire body instantly went on alert. I might never understand why I answered.
“Hello, son.”
Mitch.
“Why are you calling me?”
“I think we got off on the wrong foot.”
“Is that what you call the intention to kill your son for money—the wrong foot?”
“This all could have been so different, son. It should never have come to this. Your mother had dreams of love and a family that made pancakes together on a Sunday morning. I offered her money, status, and security, but it wasn’t enough. Greedy bitch.”
“Say you kill me, Mitch. Say you actually succeed.” The sarcasm and disbelief in my words were hard to miss because we both knew he wouldn’t succeed. Mitch was just greedy and desperate enough to try despite the odds. “What happens when the money’s gone again? Will you gamble and drink it all away like you always do?”
“You don’t know me, boy. You don’t know what I’m capable of.”
“You’re right. I don’t know you, but I know a shitbag when I see one. You all smell the same.”
“Watch your mouth, boy.”
“Hit a nerve, did I?” I chuckled into the phone hoping to raise his anger enough to do something fatally stupid like come out of hiding.
“They really did a number on you, didn’t they?”
“I think it has been pretty obvious that if you weren’t twisted enough to sell your own son, my life would have been pretty much the same.”
“Did you know that you almost died, son? I was forced to settle for a home birth because your mother was less than cooperative. I couldn’t risk taking her to a hospital for obvious reasons. Despite the promise of wealth and status, your mother wanted to end things, but, of course, I couldn’t let her escape with my meal ticket.”
“Is there some point to your rambling?”
“Yes. By some stroke of misplaced luck, you came out in time, and the midwife I hired was able to unwrap the cord from your neck. If I had known what a waste you would be, I would have just let you die.”
“At least you know what your first mistake was because, when I find you, I will kill you slowly and painfully. The last thing you do in your pathetic life will be to scream and beg for mercy.”
“Those are some bold promises, son. They taught you well. I would have thought, by now, you would have forgotten about that part of your life and became… domesticated.”
“How much did they give you?”
“Pardon me?”
“How much was I worth to you?”
“It wasn’t a matter of how much you were worth to me, but how much I could get for you.”
“How much?” I pushed through clenched teeth.
“I was paid ten grand for you. I wanted twenty, but they were a little less than compromising,” he chuckled.
“I’m not buying.”
“Oh?”
“As hard up as you claimed to have been for money, you sold me for ten measly grand?”
“Believe me, nothing about it was ideal to me, but I had no choice. I couldn’t be caught with you. My brother isn’t an idiot. He would have suspected me, but he also would have known if he took the chance and accused me without proof, he would be leading me to Sophia. He wasn’t willing to put his precious son at risk. You, however, were dispensable.”
“He’s not John’s son, you dumb fuck.”