Stolen: A Bad Boy Romance (13 page)

Kathryn

“Where in the hell have you been?” I asked as I watched the two men burst through the doors. Joanna was resting and I wanted to give her space, so I was sitting in the waiting room staring at the doors.

“On a wild good chase,” Greyson said, his nose flared. He was pissed and scared. I knew the combination. Ever since I could remember, if he was scared, he was also pissed. “Where is she?”

“What?” I asked, but it didn’t matter. They went and did their business and we were here running the household, running our lives together. It was the way it was with Mom and Dad, and it was the way things would always be with men like this. None of that was important in the moment. All that mattered was Joanna. “Through the doors. She’s in labor room 3B,” I said as I pointed.

I wanted to go back, to see the little baby that I helped bring into the world, but I needed to let the couple have time together. I needed to give her a chance to rest. So, I sat down in the waiting room and looked up at Janson.

“How is she doing?”

“Fine, just pissed off that you two knuckleheads picked the one night she was going into labor to take off.” I was angry for myself, but I was angrier that she had to go through this with me at her side and not Greyson.

“We had no idea,” Janson said, but I punched him in the shoulder anyway. “What the fuck?”

“It’s to mimic the fucking finger shaped bruises on my shoulder from her clutching on to me. Joanna is strong as hell.”

He chuckled. “It was part of her charm.”

I rolled my eyes and nudged him. “Are you okay?” I asked. I was really worried.

“Yeah, it’s fine. What we were looking for never materialized. So, we just have to keep searching.”  He was brooding. I could tell by the look in his eyes. He was so angry. This man really wanted to find whatever he was looking for.

I nodded.

It seemed really important to them. I wanted to ask so many questions, just like I wanted to wrap myself in his arms, but I knew that it wasn’t going to fly. Not here.

Watching him sit there in quiet anger was enough to make me want to do anything to stop it.

But then I saw the doors swing open and I knew who was coming through. They were here.

“Sir,” Janson said as he stood up. “How did you-”

“My daughter called me. I hear Greyson had you retrieve her?” James Fitzgerald stood tall as he looked over us.  My mother stood behind him until she saw me, then she burst forward towards me.

My mother embraced me, pulling me close as she kissed the top of my head. "I've been so worried about you."

All I could do was clutch her back and breathe her in. I couldn't believe how much I missed her. How much I longed for her to hold me like this. It was enough to bring me to tears. Almost.

She meant it. My mother loved me. She'd been a good wife to this monster, but that didn't mean she denied the love for her kids. I missed her every day that I was gone. I'd missed my sisters, too. I regretted leaving for their sake, but living with him was going to be so hard. I didn't really want anything to do with him, even now. That man totally repulsed me. But I knew that was impossible.

"I called, Mom. I did." I said it again, my lip quivering. I just wanted her to hold me and tell me everything was going to be okay, but instead, my father grabbed me by my arm and pulled me away from her, his grip so tight on my already bruised shoulder that I almost screamed.

I just grunted and looked at him, though. I wouldn't give him the satisfaction.

"I'm glad you did, daughter." That fake smile told me everything I needed to know. "Our family didn't want to miss this moment."

I'd spent my entire life trying to read my father, trying to understand his moods. It was a delicate game, one that my mother was adept at. But me, I was never that great.

Still, I could tell just by looking at him that he was smug. Angry. And it was all directed at me. I was going to hear about this later.

Any congratulations that went to my brother and Janson for bringing me home was going to be chewed out of my hide when he got the chance. My freedom was over.

But I had to make the choice. I had to do this. It was the opportunity here and now to make my way back into the family with as little anger as possible.

My hope was that he would recognize that I'd made the right call and told him of the birth of his grandchild.

We all stood in awkward silence.

Greyson came through the door, his smile huge as he looked at his family.

"I have a beautiful daughter," he said. He was glowing, and all the stress that had been dragging him down since I first saw him seemed to melt right off. "She's six pounds, three ounces and absolutely perfect."

My father let go of me and walked over to him, grabbing a cigar from his coat pocket. "For you, Dad. You've possibly just solidified peace between the families."

It was probably the most tender thing my father had ever done, and it didn't change my mind about him at all. He gave zero shits about that baby, instead caring only about what it represented.

He'd rather kill that baby than take any blame for his actions. I knew my father. We were all just pawns for his little world, and right now, his granddaughter meant a political gain and nothing more.

Peace. That was all that man cared about. Not his own granddaughter.

"She's beautiful. They said you could come see her. Joanna is resting, but she is comfortable," Greyson said.

Everyone started walking towards the maze of rooms except for me and Janson. I wasn't ready to meet my niece. Not yet.

"Are you coming?" my mother asked, looking expectant. I bit my lip and thought up the best excuse I could up with.

"Why don't you and father meet her first? I don't want to overwhelm Joanna," I explained.

Janson also hung back.

Everyone accepted this explanation and continued down the hall.

"Scary, isn't it?" Janson asked, his voice husky as he looked into my eyes. "The idea that you could create a new life. Helpless and so tiny."

"Me?" I asked as I swallowed. Hard.

"Anyone. You, me. Us." His eyes flickered, and I couldn't help but blush. It was like he was trying to tell me something.

Like he was hoping for it.

"I can't even imagine what that must be like," I admitted.

"Can't you?" he said again, his deep rumble so warm, so serious, that it pulled me right out of my own thoughts.

Did he want a baby? He was in his mid-thirties. Maybe that was what he was after.

I gulped in some air. Was he trying to tell me something?

"I don't know that I'm ready," I started, but he held up a hand.

"I don't know if anyone is ever ready. It's just a thought that passed through my mind." I could see the predator in his eyes, and I knew that he was up to something, but I had no idea what.

I couldn't even ask.

Chapter Fourteen

Janson

All the shit from my past stirred up around me as I fought my way out of that fucking dream.

“Kat.” It was the one name that pulled me out, the one thing that kept me from these damn recurring nightmares.

I needed to touch her.

I reached for her, but she wasn’t there. I called her name, just on the edge of consciousness one more time.

“Kat,” I moaned.

The nightmares were back. I was just a little boy in my bedroom as my father came in. He started with the belt, always the belt. The beatings used to leave me unable to do anything but cry. When that wasn’t enough for him, he’d put his cigar or cigarette out in my back.  Even now, I remembered the smell of my charred flesh. My nightmares were back.

Nightmares that I’d thought were gone for good.

Because they were, as long as I held Kathryn.

But she was gone. Back to her parents’ house, back to a world that she already ran from. I knew Greyson would be busy with his daughter and I was totally alone.

It was a feeling I used to relish. An empty house, cool sheets, no one there to tell me how to act or what to do. No one to see me scared. Yeah, I used to like it, but not anymore.

Everything was empty without her.

“Fuck,” I said as my feet met the cold floor. “I’m fucking useless without her. I love her.” I leaned against my bed and looked up at the ceiling, certain of only one thing.

She was going to have my baby. I’d been half joking when I proposed it earlier, but I wasn’t now. I wanted to fill her with my seed and make her mine. She was mine and she always would be.

There was nothing else I would accept.

Kat was mine, and I wanted to make sure that I claimed her the only way I knew how. The only way that anyone else would accept. That woman was going to get pregnant and have my baby. I knew it would solve everything. No one would be able to refute our relationship. No one would forbid me from it. I’d fuck her like crazy, make her pregnant, then make her marry me.

She was going to be mine.

It was going to make Greyson see that she belonged to me. That she was mine.

There was no other choice. Even if she didn't know it. Even if she couldn't understand it. It was risky, it could backfire in so many ways, but it was what I wanted. I loved her, and I needed to find a way to make this legitimate.

I was going to get her pregnant. Then I was going to make her my wife.

I knew it in my bones the moment I considered it. I wanted her, and I wanted her pregnant. Nothing else would do.

I loved her. It was fucking crazy, but I did. I wanted to tell her, wanted to let her know everything that I was feeling, but that wasn’t my way. I’d been told never to let those emotions out. Not in that form, anyway.

Without her, I needed to get up. I needed to do something. Work. Play. Something that included my fist in someone else’s face.

I got dressed and grinned when I looked down at my business phone. My father had already sent tomorrow’s list.

At least I’d having something to keep me occupied.

Kathryn

When I held that little girl in my arms, the whole world shrank away to nothingness. It was just me and that little cherub, and I understood exactly what Greyson meant when he said that she was perfect.

It was because she was the pinnacle of perfection. The most beautiful thing I'd ever seen in my entire life. She was tiny and magnificent. A part of me yearned to be holding one of my own, and my ovaries ached. Not now, though. Not yet. I was going to enjoy being an aunt for a while.

"What do you think?" Joanna's voice brought me out of my reverie. She had a smile on her face that only a proud mother could have.

"What do I think?" I asked. "I think you are a miracle worker. This baby is the most precious thing I've ever seen in my entire life," I admitted.

“Anyone can push out a baby, but I’m glad I didn’t have to do it alone. Greyson would really be in trouble,” she joked.

It was the truth as I saw it, and Joanna was beaming. "What's her name?" I asked.

"Jessica Kathryn," she said as she beamed up at me.

"Kathryn?" I asked, my mouth hanging open.

"You were there for me when I needed you most, so I figured that was the most appropriate thing to do," she said. She smiled at me. “Plus, it’s a good Catholic name, minus the unconventional spelling, and the family will approve.”

I was shocked. No one had ever thought about me enough to name a baby after me.

"My sisters are going to be jealous as hell," I joked. They were, though. I don't think they knew Joanna the way I did, and I was always Greyson's favorite. Let them eat their hearts out.

Joanna chuckled. "I am sure they are, but Greyson will handle it. He's so good at dealing with your family."

If only she knew the truth about my family. If only she knew the facade that she’d walked into and all the pain that they’d caused. Not my mother, not my sisters, but the men in our family played dangerous games and they won dangerous prizes. Like death and war.

If only she knew the truth about everything. If she knew what a coward I was, she would never have named her baby after me. I bailed on my uncle when he needed me most. I didn't step forward and name my father as a killer. I ran.

I didn't deserve this. I didn't deserve any of it. Not the name of this child, not Janson. I was such a fraud. An imposter. I was getting away with everything.

But I was determined to make it right, and I would. I just needed to do the plan. I needed to get information on my father that would put him away forever.

I just needed to be prepared to go back into that house.

"So, you're going back home, then?" Joanna asked me. I'd spent the entire day in the hospital with her. She could leave this evening, but I knew she'd want the company.

She'd hedged around the conversation until now.

"Yes. I have to go back home." It was all part of the plan, and I couldn't just bail on it. Not now, when I'd made a commitment. But I couldn’t tell Joanna that. She was left in the dark about this little plan. She had no idea that it was even happening. It would upset her, and right now she had enough on her plate.

I couldn’t betray the secret. No matter how much I wanted to confide in her. No matter how much I wanted to ask her for advice.

"But what about Janson?" she asked, her brow furrowed. She was as confused as I was when it came to my relationship with Janson.

"He'll still be there," I answered. "He promised."

"And you won't tell anyone?" Joanna asked. She was prying, but she was trying to be nice and she'd just given birth. I wasn't about to tell her to back off.

"He told me it wasn't safe to. He's really afraid of what Greyson might do. He's afraid of what my father might do." It was the truth, as far as I could tell. The two of us knew it would be a risky relationship. We knew that it was possible that once they found out, it would be forbidden. I wasn’t willing to chance that. Not yet. Not until I was certain he wanted me.

I didn’t know if I would ever be certain. He kept his emotions so closely guarded that I doubt he would tell me, even if he knew.

She nodded. "I don't always understand these men, but I do know that disrespect is the most serious violation of their code. Greyson might view being with you as being disrespectful to them. But I know that if you don’t tell him and he finds out, that it would be a betrayal.”

"Do you think they will?" I asked. But I wasn't thinking about that. I was going to commit the ultimate form of disrespect against my father. I was going to put him behind bars.

I didn't respect him, though. Not one bit. I wanted to see him rot for what he did.

I wanted him to pay.

And I hated myself for thinking that while I was holding this tiny little baby.

I handed her back to Joanna. "I just. I don't know, Joanna. I don't know if I can go through this."

"You can. It's not easy, but if you love Janson, you can. It'll all work out in the end." Joanna seemed like she was so full of hope, but I didn't necessarily believe her. It just seemed impossible.

"How do you know?" I asked.

"Because look at me. Greyson loves me. He had the chance to walk away from me, and he didn't. He didn't walk away from us." She cradled her baby and looked up at me. "Give Janson a chance."