“Are you forgetting that I came to Meager with your sister to live with your mother and help her now that she’s weak and frail?”
“They could’ve hired a professional to do what you’re doing, but my sister managed to sucker you into it.”
“Have you even offered to help your sisters financially with your mother’s care, by the way? Your mother has good days and bad days. They come and go. And, thankfully, while the going is still good, your daughter is getting to know her very special, very wonderful grandmother. Doesn’t that mean anything to you?”
“It does, but meanwhile, you’re sucking Jack cock in the background. So, this is how it’s gonna go. We aren’t goin’ through lawyers, for obvious reasons, so we’re gonna do this my way.”
My heart skipped a beat. “Do what?”
“You’re gonna give me custody of Becca.”
“What?”
“You’re her ma. I get that. So, you can have her every other couple of weeks.”
“What are you talking about, Catch? You’re being totally unfair. This is bullshit.”
“You’re gonna do as I say, and you know why?”
“Why, asshole?”
He laughed. “’Cause if you don’t, your old man is gonna pay for it. All it takes is for me to give the word to Mishap, and you know what’s gonna happen, don’t you?”
My blood froze.
Mishap was the Flames of Hell assassin-on-demand. A former Army sharpshooter, his services were legendary. Hired not only by his own club nationwide, but also contracted by other clubs and even Mafia from all over the country for his particular skill set. Murder for hire. At long range, under the cover of night, in the blinking light of day—either way, quiet, untraceable, unmistakable.
“Catch, please. Please. Are you totally insane?”
“Not totally. You do as I say, and there will be no insane mishaps, baby.” His low chuckle rumbled through the phone. “Maybe I’ll start off small, just for kicks, so you get that I’m serious about this.”
“You always have to have your kicks, don’t you?”
“This is real simple, Jill. You stay with your old man, but I get my kid the way I want my kid. You do not tell him, my mother, or my sisters about this conversation. This is club business, and you know what that means. I taught you well, didn’t I?”
“Yes. Yes, you did.” My voice cracked.
One night, Catch had made me watch Finger shoot a man, point-blank, in the face with a rifle. A prospect who had snitched to an undercover cop about business. Catch had wanted me to understand how important keeping secrets was, now that I was a part of a new way of life. He’d told me I needed to wrap my head around it and stay committed to it. I’d gotten it all right, in flying blood and chunk spattered Technicolor.
Afterward, he’d fucked me against the chain-link fence of the compound as the party roared on around us. He’d fucked me until I stopped feeling numb, and my incessant shuddering had been transformed into another kind of shuddering by the quick, harsh orgasm he gave me. His loud grunts, enthusiastic filthy monologue, and the sharp gleam in his dark eyes as he’d hammered into me had told me that it had been exciting for him to share that slice of his life with me. He’d been buzzing with it. I’d been a crazy mixture of terrified, stupefied, and needy, all the while realizing how wholly dependent on Catch I was for my sanity and survival at the Flames of Hell.
After the orgasm had faded, the numb had quickly returned. What had I gotten myself into once again? Way too much.
I’d thought I’d finally gotten myself out of it when I took our daughter and left him and Nebraska behind.
I gripped my phone tighter, my stomach gnarled into knots, as I watched Boner cutting pieces of burger for Becca from where I stood. “Don’t do this to Becca, please. Come see her whenever you want. Whenever. But she’s too young right now for you to take her from me and have her on your own. The last time you did, you handed her over to some club women, and she ended up getting kidnapped by that lunatic.”
“I want my kid down here with me. I’m her father. Me. Not some One-Eyed Jack.”
The line went dead.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
My hand flew to my mouth, and I choked back the screechy sob rising in my throat. I took in a breath and made my way back to our table.
Boner’s eyes followed me as I sat down. “You okay?”
“Fine. That was the billing department from the rehab where Rae was a few months ago. There’s an issue with a Medicare payment that hasn’t gone through yet. I couldn’t hear what she was saying, so I…” I gestured toward the hall where I’d gone to take the call. “It’s always something with health insurance.”