Wayward Son (Jensen Family #3)
Read Wayward Son (Jensen Family #3) Online
Authors: Michelle Day
Table of Contents
Michelle Y Day
All Rights Reserved
To Yana and Stephen.
My life, my heart, my inspiration.
Cover courtesy of: Kerry Heavens
For the Unholy Trinity
Stumbling backwards, one hand covering his nose from
which blood cascaded, he came to
an
abrupt stop when his back met the wall.
His ears were ringing and he was seeing stars, yes stars. Like the ones in
cartoons. He was looking hard for the little blue bird that usually accompanies
them when his hearing ret
urned, the sounds of wet
thuds reaching him, spurring him in to action.
Spitting out the blood that had pooled in his mouth, he tried to ignore
the pain in his face as he moved cautiously forward. The patented Novak bear
hug and heave hadn’t worked the fir
st time which was
why his nose was now of the broken variety. This time when he reached out he
grabbed a handful of hair and the back of a t-shirt and pulled back with all
his might only wrapping his arms around his struggling friend when he was sure
he ha
d a firm enough grasp.
Sagging in Novak’s arms, his adrenalin rush fading as fast as the red
mist that had clouded his vision, Gavin asked in a cold, emotionless voice “Is
he dead?”
Letting his friend slump to the floor, Novak lent over the inert male
that
Gavin had taken a dislike to and felt for a
pulse. “He’s still breathing but he’s a mess Gav.”
A shout of
,
“
h
ey, what’s going on there?” brought
Novak upright. Curse his golden blond halo of hair for catching the light. The
next thing would be sirens. Oh,
there they were, that
was quick.
“We need to get out of here.” He reached for Gavin, now crying silently.
“Gav, come on.” Pulling the younger boy to his feet, he wrapped an arm around
him and pulled him away from the scene but not before Gavin saw what he
’d done.
“Shit. What have I done? I should stay here, talk to the police.”
“Not without a solicitor you don’t. Your old man would crucify me if I
left you to face the music now come on.”
He’d been sitting here for hours. How many he didn’t kno
w because they had taken his watch, along with his belt and
laces before putting him in this stark room.
He had plenty of time to reflect on just how much his life had changed in
a few short months. Leaning back against the wall, resting his sore hands on
his legs, he closed his eyes as his grief threatened to
overcome him. He hadn’t given in to it yet and he had no intention of doing so
any time soon.
Instead of focussing on that, he cast his mind back to better times.
Times spent with his best friend, the
one he classed
as a brother, Novak. The same person who had persuaded him to hand himself in
once he’d got a tenuous tether on his temper.
Remembering the good times they had enjoyed together. The band they had
formed with two other friends James and the
quiet
Canadian Ed, or Mystic as Novak had christened him
.
D
ue to his propensity to disappear but
always
turn up in time for rehearsals and gigs.
And of course there was the après gig entertainment.
Gavin smiled. None of them were shy and had spent many a m
emorable hour with the ladies who frequented the bars they
played in. It was during those times that his friend had introduced him to the
joys of the threesome, foursome, moresome. No, wait, the threesome part at
least had happened before then with their c
omely
neighbour Cara.
He’d known Novak all his life so climbing the ladder to their loft den
and finding the big blond male naked wasn’t exactly a surprise. They had shared
almost everything since he’d been born, why would this situation be any
different?
Cara was comfortable with them. She enjoyed them both equally but she
particularly enjoyed the times she spent sandwiched between them. Part of him
felt guilty about using her like they did. They both dated other girls from
time to time and indeed Cara wou
ld bring to the loft
any number of girls or boys, whichever took her fancy at the time, she wasn’t
fussy. They would also pick out people
for either
each other or
Cara
and developed a habit of watching her in action before
getting a piece of it for themselves.
Those things were in the past now. Sex was the furthest thing from his
mind. Waking up each day, thinking everything was alright
but then remembering that his wor
ld had ended,
was a living nightmare.
Those first few minutes of each day were
the only time he felt normal before the crushing weight of his unexpressed
grief returned to crush the breath from his lungs as he fought the daily battle
with his emotions.
The
re was a very real possibility that he was
going to spend some time behind ba
rs for what he’d
done last
night. He didn’t know the man he’d
beaten bloody, the man he’d been told was currently in hospital preparing for
extensive surgery to his face. His temp
er had
overcome him and it had only taken the merest hint of a nudge to get him to
flip. And flip he had.
If, by some miracle his solicitor managed to talk him out of jail time,
his life was still going to change. His mother was gone. They had buried her l
ess than a month ago. His home was being sold. He was being
ripped away from everything he knew and everyone he loved to live with his
father and his new step mother. Maybe time behind bars wouldn’t be so bad after
all.
He already had a juvenile record tha
nks to the
fights he’d had at one school or another. As was the way these days, he’d been
expelled despite otherwise being a model pupil and his behaviour had been
reported to the police. It was only thanks to some fancy footwork by the
solicitor he was cu
rrently waiting on that he’d got
away with just expulsions so far.
Standing as the door to his cell was unlocked, he met the eye of the
burly officer sent to escort him to the interview room. Yeah right, because
he’d get so violent in a police station that they’d
need
the heavy mob to fetch him. It must
mean his solicitor
had arrived.
His father could be seen pacing in the waiting room as Gavin was pulled
to a stop. Looking at each other through the glass, Gavin could see that Paul
was frazzled and at the end of his tether. He couldn’t find it in him to care.
Paul was the
one responsible for taking him away from
his home and the years of hurt his mother had endured. Gavin knew his father
would do anything to help him but surely that was just to save face and his
precious reputation. Wasn’t it?
He was allowed a few moments a
lone with Jake,
his solicitor, an extremely well appointed man. Jake pressed him for details
and circumstances but Gavin’s memory was hazy at best. All he really remembered
was overwhelming rage and Novak’s arms wrapped around him.
When Jake told him that
not only was his victim
in surgery but Novak was too, Gavin frowned and questioned why?
“You broke his nose, it’s a mess. So much so that he’s having plastic
surgery
,
at your
father’s expense I might add, so that he looks as he always has.”
Shaking his hea
d, deep in denial “I didn’t
punch him.” Gavin stated.
“You elbowed him.”
Turning his arm over, Gavin stretched and looked at the back of it. A
bruise was forming alongside a memory. “Shit. Explains the bruise and why his
face was a mess.”
“Violence is not
the answer. I can probably get
you off what with your current circumstances but I imagine there will be heavy
provisos that come along with an acquittal.”
Gavin shrugged. “Prison might not be so bad.”
“Prison is not a place for you. Someone with a temper p
roblem like yours won’t see the light of day again. Trust
me on this. Speak when spoken too. Be honest. Brutally so, tears will help your
cause and we’ll get through this.”
True to his word, Jake managed to avoid any custodial sentence for the
time being
o
ther than
Gavin
being
released into the care of his father. There was however, to be a closed
hearing with a judge which would decide Gavin’s fate. Handing the boy over to
Paul didn’t ease his fears at all. Paul was tense. Gavin was quite literally
vibrati
ng with animosity.
Taking Paul to one side, Jake faced him. “You need to keep a handle on
him at all times. There’s only so much I can do within the bounds of the law.
He steps out of line again and they’ll lock him up. He may still do a small
stretch, tha
t all depends on how contrite he is when
he appears in front of the judge tomorrow. As far as tonight goes. Keep him
under lock and key.”
“I’m trying here Jake. He’s a law unto himself and he absolutely hates me
right now. If I have to watch him all night,
I will.
We’ll be there tomorrow and he will be contrite. I hope.” Paul paused. “I have
no idea what I’m doing here.”
“You need to step up buddy. He might be giving you hate vibes but he
needs you, he either doesn’t realise it
,
or
doesn’t
want to admit
it
but you
are all he has now. Y
ou two need to find some common ground
and work from there. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
The following morning, after a peaceful night because Gavin didn’t say a
single word all evening, Paul climbed out of Suzanne’s Volvo and waite
d for his son to exit before locking it. He’d prefer to
leave it open and running in the hope that someone would steal it away but
thought the better of getting on the wrong side of his new wife’s temper.
His hand made suit was at serious odds with the fa
ded silver paintwork and peeling lacquer of the car. Looking over the
roof as his son straightened, he forgot his dislike for the car and focussed on
his boy. Gavin was pale. The animosity of the previous night had gone
,
to be replaced by a silence that wa
s more unnerving than his previous and overtly obvious
silent disapproving hatred.
Gavin leant back against the car and stared at the building in front of
him. This morning would decide his fate. He’d like to say he didn’t care what
happened to him but o
f course he did. He didn’t want
to go to prison. Right now, more than anything, he wanted to apologise to the
stranger he had beaten and offer some way to help. His guilt was eating him
alive but he had no way to voice it. He had taken the small amount of
grief that he had allowed to show and turned it against his
father, his brother and a total stranger. He needed a hug right now but the
only person’s arms he wanted to feel around him was dead and buried. He was
lost.
He was put on the spot shortly after J
ake
stopped talkin
g. Recalling the details of last
night was difficult, not only because of the emotions it stirred up but
because when in a rage, Gavin had little recollection of what had happened.
He sought permiss
ion from the judge
to visit his victim a
s he recovered in hospital and offer a sincere and
heartfelt apology.
He was given a severe dressing down by
the judge and was told in no uncertain terms that his circumstances and obvious
guilty conscience over what he’d done were the only things keeping
him from a term behind bars. His situation was described as
exceptionally mitigating.
As part of his penance and upon hearing that Paul would be removing him
from the county, Gavin was told that should he return, he would have to report
to the local polic
e and advise them of the reason for
his visit for the next ten years. If during that time he found himself in
trouble again for using his fists instead of his voice, he would be taken in to
custody.
Gavin took a seat when the judge’s attention turned to Pa
ul. He received a thorough dressing down and almost
repeated word for word what Jake had said to him the previous evening. Paul had
every intention of stepping up, he just needed his son to give him a small sign
that he was beginning to crack and allow him
in.
As he turned the key and waited for the Volvo to rumble in to life, Paul
muttered “Well that told me!” Referring to his dressing down from the judge. He
glanced across at his son and could’ve sworn he saw a hint of a smirk. “Do you
want to do this now
?” He asked.
Gavin nodded. He didn’t really want to do it at all, he needed to do it,
for himself, for the man he’d beaten.
It took a while to gain access to the room containing his victim. The
call from the judge’s staff had been slow in coming. Finally
gaining access, it was left to Paul to make the
introductions and make the initial apology.
When Gavin found his voice, he was eloquent, humble and his apology was
sincerely heartfelt. Paul was impressed. Gavin’s shoulders slumped visibly as
his victim ga
llantly accepted his apology and
sympathised with the boy for the loss of his mother.
The next stop before they started their journey to Kingston, would be
considerably more difficult. Gavin was out of the car in a flash as it pulled
to a stop outside Hele
n and Novak’s new residence.
Novak stopped when he saw his friend and dropped the box he was carrying to his
garage conversion apartment.
Helen joined Paul, a small child propped on her hip as they watched their
sons embrace before Novak threw the box at
his friend
and they vanished inside his garage.
“How is he doing?” Helen asked while shifting the child to her other hip.
Paul sighed. “I presume he’s coping. He currently isn’t talking to me.”
“He can stay here you know.”
“She wanted me to care for him
and that’s what
I’m going to do. I’ve never been beaten by anything Helen and I’ll be damned if
I’m going to let a teenager beat me.”