Felice
Tears spilling down her face, Felice wrapped her arms tighter around Pierce. She never should have left this embrace. Everything about it felt perfect, like two puzzle pieces coming together to form a whole. Ever since Pierce and Felice had been separated, something had felt like it was missing from her life. No matter how hard she tried to ignore it. But now, with him so close, it was nearly impossible to deny her mistake at leaving him in the first place. No, this is where she belonged. This is where their child belonged.
Smiling, Felice snuggled a little closer, ignoring the audience to their private moment. She was used to having an audience. Every single camera in the world couldn’t ruin this moment. Nothing could.
But Felice was wrong. Something could ruin it. And Clay Patterson was going to try his hardest to do so.
The sound of a car driving too fast on gravel tore through the parking lot, followed by the unmistakable sound the skittering of tires. A car door opened and slammed closed, pulling Felice out of Pierce’s arms to investigate who could be pulling into the shop like a madman.
She instantly regretted looking.
“Felice!” Clay shouted, his voice thick with something crazy. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”
“Leaving your ass behind like she should have done a long time ago,” Jennifer snapped. Felice’s heart dropped down into her toes, her whole body shivering in the freezing cold weather. “Hey, you!” she said, pointing to one of Pierce’s boys. “Go call the damned police. Please.” The kid looked shocked for a second, then disappeared back into the building.
Clay’s pale skin was red with rage, his red hair looking like his scalp was on fire from his rage. A blood vessel popped out on his forehead as he took another step towards Felice and Pierce. “You stupid bitch! How dare you break up with me? After I supported you through this embarrassing pregnancy because biker dude couldn’t step up? You have got to be kidding me.”
Felice could feel her own anger rising in her blood and her eyes narrowed more with every word. Spinning on her heel, she stood beside Pierce, who loomed over her like a protector. “You supported me? By what? Sleeping with the whole world? Making a fool of me by getting arrested on national television? How did you get out anyway?”
Several of Pierce’s boys had come out of the garage and stood behind them. They were all pretty threatening individually, and together, they should have sent Clay running back to his car with his tail between his legs. But he had lost it by then and seemed to see nothing but Felice.
He sneered at her. “I posted bail and walked out of the jail.”
Jennifer snorted. “You’re breaking the law by being out of the state aren’t you?”
Clay’s face got impossibly redder as Felice watched. Pierce’s muscles seemed to tense a little more with every crazy sentence out of Clay’s stupid mouth. “Who cares? I thought you liked bad boys, Felice? Come, don’t you find me hot now, just like your pet inmate?”
Felice’s eyes darkened with rage. “Shut up, Clay, and go back home before they miss you and throw you in jail forever. Not that wouldn’t make me happy; you have literally ruined the last year of my life.”
“I ruined your life?” Clay screamed, his voice cracking as he nearly started foaming at the mouth. “You think I ruined your life? Don’t you think you have biker boy to blame for ruining your fucking life when he knocked you up?”
Pressing her hands protectively to the precious life inside of her belly, Felice took a step back, staggering back from the barrage.
But Jennifer stepped forward. “You stupid cow, of course not. You’re the one who made her miserable. You’re the one cheated, who lied to me to get me to cheat with you. You’re the one who stole all of that money and made a fool of yourself. You’re the one that ruined your chances with Felice by being a selfish prick. Felice only stuck by you because she thought you would be a good father to her kid, no matter how you treated her. She thought you had integrity. Obviously she was wrong, because you’re just a piece of trash.”
Clay gaped at Jennifer, his mouth moving but no words coming out. Felice kind of felt like gaping at her, too. In all of the time they had been friends, Jennifer had never stood up for her so vehemently.
New tears slipped down Felice’s face. “Yes, I was wrong. I was wrong to ever pick Clay over a good man like you, Pierce. I’m sorry that it took all of these disasters for me to see clearly. I was just trying to do what was best for my baby. For our baby.”
Felice turned to Pierce, watching as the hardened mask over his features melted away, leaving behind a vulnerable, beautiful man. And her heart melted in return.
# # #
Pierce
For a long time after Felice finished speaking, there was silence in the parking lot. Even Clay was stunned into silence, unable to continue his tirade. He stood there sputtering, his voice lost under the hatred in both Jennifer and Felice’s words.
Pierce studied Felice, unable to believe how strong this beautiful woman could be. Standing in front of all of these cameras and all of these people, admitting to the whole world that she had been wrong. She was trying so hard to fix her mistake, and Pierce couldn’t let her suffer any longer.
“Felice,” he said, taking her tiny hands in his own. “I stayed away. I stayed away from you, thinking a guy like me would only complicate your life. I didn’t want to ruin your career or ruin the future of our son. I’d rather be miserable if it would give you the chance to be happy. But I can’t sit idly by if you are being so poorly treated.” Kissing the fuzzy fabric of her gloves, Pierce smiled down on Felice.
“How did I get so lucky?” he wondered, watching as Felice’s emerald eyes lit up like Christmas lights on a tree. Pierce was the luckiest man in the world, and he’d only get luckier as his son grew.
Sirens blazed, making Pierce wince out of habit. Clay’s face was still livid, his eyes bulging out of his skull as he took an angry step forward. It was the wrong move.
Kent stepped forward at the same time Razor did, their predatory eyes locked on Clay, the spoiled brat. “I believe those sirens are for you, friend. So you might not want to make it worse by stepping forward again,” Kent said as Razor slammed one of her meaty fists into her other palm.
Clay swallowed hard, then turned on his heel to go back to his car. But two more of Pierce’s boys were leaning against his car, big wicked grins on their faces. “Going somewhere?” Jackboot asked, flexing a little as Clay yelped.
He was surrounded, and there was nothing in the world he could do about it. But Clay wasn’t the kind who could go down without a fight, so he turned around, facing the only fight he might actually win.
He turned to Felice.
Pierce automatically stepped closer to her, his hands coming to rest on her shoulders protectively. Felice stood tall, her eyes blazing like she was just daring Clay to do his worst.
“You stupid whore. No wonder nobody of any worth wants you. You had to drag your date out of the trash and dress him up in pretty clothes. Good luck having a career after I’m gone; I am your career. Your stupid fans love me.”
The police cars pulled into the gravel parking lot. They stepped forward, looking around and trying to figure out exactly what was happening. Pierce pointed to Clay. “This man has been harassing us,” he said, a grimace on his face. The cops glanced around at the cameras with confusion in their faces.
“I think you’ll also find that he is breaking the terms of his bail in Nevada,” Jennifer smirked, an evil grin on her pretty face. “They told him not to leave the state and not to stalk his ex girlfriend, both of which he’s been doing. Any chance you could clean up this trash for us officers?” She batted her pretty black lashes at them, making a few of Pierce’s boys chuckle.
Clay screamed like a madman as they cuffed him for the second time, dragging him bodily from the parking lot to the cheers of the bikers gathered around to watch. Pierce and Felice watched in silence, trying to drown out the sound of his voice as he tossed more horrible insults at the two of them. They both sighed in relief as the door shut behind him, silencing his yells.
“Well,” Felice said finally, her voice filled with false cheer. “At least we won’t have to worry about seeing him anytime soon. There’s no way he’ll be back out on bail, and his sentence will be at least several years. I think the minimum sentence for the money he’s taken is ten years, and not even rich daddy will be able to get him out of that.”
Pierce chuckled. “That’s great news.” He turned her around, grabbing her chin with his fingers.
Felice looked up at him, her too-big green eyes glittering. A smile formed on her perfect lips as she wrapped her arms around Pierce’s neck. “It’s okay. Not as good as knowing you’ll be around.”
Pierce wavered a little under those big eyes, an icy touch of uncertainty cutting through his happiness. “But what if I do ruin your career?”
“I have enough money to retire for both of us and — ” She touched her belly gently. “And Lenny. Yes, after my grandfather.”
Pierce’s smile grew. “I like it.”
Bowing his head, Pierce kissed Felice with all of his might, much to the delight of onlookers. The whole crowd cheered, even the camera crew, making for a most dramatic and wonderful end to the Domiano’s TV season.