Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 79039 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 395(@200wpm)___ 316(@250wpm)___ 263(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79039 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 395(@200wpm)___ 316(@250wpm)___ 263(@300wpm)
“Been staying close to home. How is your hermano?”
“Doing good. He’s coming home on leave next month.”
“Good. Bring him up to the house. Beth will cook you two dinner,” Skull says, making me smile. Adam’s twin brother Leon got into some trouble when they were teens. Skull saved Leon when some street punks jumped him. They were seconds away from killing him. It’s a debt that neither one has forgotten and not one that Skull worries about. They’ve become family, too. Both know that to be the case. It’s also how Adam knows so much about Robin’s bullshit.
“What a surprise! Another fucking cop on the Devil’s Blaze payroll,” Robin huffs. “You see this shit, bitch? This is what you’re signing up for when you let his dick between your legs. You’re never going to be free.”
“Robin, you’ve been free since you took money in place of our son. Bitch, you’re the one that refuses to walk away.”
“My boy loves me. That’s why he wanted to start visiting me. He wants to live with me He told me that, too. What he doesn’t want is to live here with your latest piece!”
“I told you to lay off my woman!” I snarl, advancing toward her. I feel Beau’s hands on me and soon my dad joins her, but I won’t be stopped. This woman is evil. I’ve known it for a while. Someone has to be evil to turn their back on their own flesh and blood for money. That’s the least of Robin’s crimes, though. I won’t allow her to touch Beau. She doesn’t deserve to breathe the same air as her.
“Your woman,” she laughs, the sound hideous coming from her lips.
“Mom! Stop it! Beau’s been great to me,” Ty cries, coming out of the house, Slider at his side.
“Baby,” Robin whines, doing her best to hide the hate written all over her face. “Come here, sweetheart. Let me see you,” she says.
I scrub the back of my neck, letting out a curse under my breath. “Ty—”
“Sweetheart, why don’t you, me and Slider, take your grandpa into the kitchen. He can help us make breakfast?” Beau asks softly.
“Nu-uh. No way, bitch. You aren’t taking my son anywhere,” Robin screams. “Ty, come here to Mom. Tell this cop that you want to come with me.”
“Ty, son. Go back inside. We’ll deal with this and be in, yeah?” I exhale, praying my son listens to me.
Ty walks over to Adam, shrugging Dad’s hands off of his shoulders. Skull is there, so I stand still. This is going to kill me if he agrees to go with Robin, but there’s not much I can do. I’m not going to put my son in the middle of a tug of war. He’s going to have to learn about Robin on his own and I fucking hate it. I despise myself because I’m ultimately responsible for the pain that is waiting my boy.
“I don’t want to be around my mother. I don’t have to. My dad has full custody. Mom doesn’t have visitation unless I ask for it. Right, Dad?”
“Ty! You don’t mean that!” Robin screeches.
“Right, Ty. Seriously, though buddy, why don’t you go inside? Let us work this out,” I plead again.
“You never told me that you paid Mom money so you could have custody of me, Dad.”
“Shit,” Beau whispers, hugging me tighter.
I look at my son, my heart breaking for him. This sick feeling hits me, and I wish I could erase all of this from his memory. If I could, I would in a heartbeat—even if that means him still visiting with the piece of shit that is his mother.
“Son, let’s talk about it later, okay?”
“You don’t understand, Ty. I was all on my own. I couldn’t take care of a child. I didn’t have anyone to depend on.”
“Beau’s all alone. Slider told me that she took care of her dad when he was dying and turned down a chance to be a star on a television show and everything so she could be there for her dad.”
“Ty—” Beau starts, but Robin doesn’t let her finish.
“She’s not your mother. I am.”
“Yeah. You sold me to Dad. You never even tried to keep me and take care of me. You don’t now. You don’t even feed me when I’m there. I eat peanut butter sandwiches while you’re out or at home drunk.”
“That’s not true,” Robin says, obviously panicked, looking around at all of us—obviously feeling trapped.
“You’re right. Sometimes you are in bed sleeping it off.”
“Ty—” Fuck, I don’t even know what I’m going to say to him right now. I didn’t know any of this shit. My boy never told me, and I’ve always felt like a bad father, but now I feel like one that’s a piece of shit. Not only am I responsible for the fact Robin’s poison touches my son on a daily basis, but I also let him stay in an environment no kid should live in.