Chapter Seven
Charity may be safe, but he sure as hell wasn’t. Caleb and Beast looked like they had itchy trigger fingers right now, and if it wasn’t for Hope serving up the mashed potatoes, Dwayne’s brains would be splattered across the dining room wall.
“Where are the kids, honey?” Hope asked.
“In the yard. Probably fighting with water,” Beast said.
“Want to go and give them a call?” Faith asked, looking toward Caleb.
“Just need to talk to Dwayne about something, babe. Will you do it? I’ll make it up to you later.”
“Charity?” Hope asked. “Would you like to come along? We’ll bring out drinks when we get back.”
“It’s okay, I can—okay, that wasn’t a suggestion. I’ll be back,” she said, smiling at him. Dwayne winked at her, trying to show her that he was fine.
Beast had told him to go after her, so he didn’t see what the problem was.
“What have I done now?” Dwayne asked. He may as well just get down to business, as otherwise they’d never eat.
“You brought her here?” Caleb asked.
“Beast encouraged me to go after her.”
“I don’t have a problem with you coming here.”
“What’s the problem now?” Dwayne asked, bored with Caleb’s attitude.
Beast looked toward Caleb. “What is your problem with the girl?”
“She knows nothing about our life. For all you know, she could be feeding this crap to the cops.”
“You need to learn to relax.”
“Relax? He’s going across the city, killing a lot of people—”
“People that would quite happily take your family out, might I add. Faith, your kids, you want that?”
“What I don’t want is to keep on cleaning up your messes.”
“Uncle Caleb, you’ve not cleaned up one of my messes in a long time, so don’t start trying to play that card with me.”
“What is it with this girl?”
He glanced in the direction of the kitchen, but he didn’t catch a single sight of her. “What about Faith? What was it about her?” He stared at Caleb. His uncle showed no signs of backing down. “Wasn’t it just a feeling? Something that you seemed to crave, that just made you tick over and over again? I don’t know what it is about Charity. I can’t shake her, and I don’t want to either. I like being around her. She makes me forget all the horrible shit I’ve done, and she doesn’t care. She knows the worst of what I’ve done. I’m sorry I can’t be this picture-perfect killer for you, Caleb. It doesn’t fucking work that way. You want to argue with me about all the men I’ve killed, go right ahead. The last group of men I killed were heading toward your house, did you know that?” He saw Caleb visibly pale. “I got a call about a group of men wanting to take out a Carson. Going for what they considered the weakest when it came to security. I intercepted their van, took them out. There were ten of them, heavily armed, and two vans. I don’t think you’d have been sitting down to this dinner with Faith getting your kids. You may hate me, Caleb, and the numbers I kill, but I do what I have to do to keep this family safe.” He slammed his hand down on the table, his point finally made.
Silence fell around the table for a few minutes. Dwayne didn’t have anything more to say.
“I wasn’t aware,” Caleb said.
“I don’t go out killing people for the fun of it. I grew out of that.” He turned his attention toward Beast. “I went back and checked. Where I buried bodies, none of the ground has been disturbed. Those killings are not mine.”
Before they could say anything else, kids began to run in. Beast’s and Caleb’s youngest girls came running toward them, squealing.
He laughed and hugged them close.
Hope, Faith, and Charity walked back into the room, carrying drinks.
Charity frowned at him, clearly confused by what was going on, but he simply smiled at her to let her know that everything was okay. It would be. He knew how to deal with his uncles.
Dinner went by without a hitch. The kids made it so easy to just sit and eat lunch. They talked constantly. It was kind of strange to see both Beast and Caleb relaxed, laughing, happy.
His own father had never allowed for such noise around the table.
Food had been just another form of punishment. If Dwayne did something to annoy him, he went to bed without food. His mother would try to feed him, but if she was ever caught disobeying his father, then there was always hell to pay. He hated his early years, and watching Beast and Caleb’s kids, he felt envious of them.
He knew he was never going to have kids. There was no way in hell that he’d ever risk turning into his father, and the only way to guarantee that was to never have kids. He watched Charity talk with Hope and Faith. The three women had clearly hit it off, and it was also confirmed when they exchanged numbers before heading out.
Faith and Hope both gave him a hug and told him not to be a stranger. Of course, his cousins rushed around him, hugging, or fist-bumping him before he headed out.
Charity was giving him strange looks.
“What?” he asked, staring at her across the hood of his car.
“Nothing. I just, your family is pretty awesome.”
“You really think so?”
“Yeah. I mean, come on, don’t you see that?”
He glanced back at the house. “Never really thought about it.”
“I don’t know what went on between you and your uncles, but that was pretty amazing. They care about you, and you can see that.”
He saw the envy in her eyes, and he didn’t like it.
“Your family cares about you. They paid a fortune for you to be rescued.”
“I always wanted a brother or a sister. My parents were too busy to let that happen.” She shrugged. “You’re lucky.”
“I don’t have any brothers or sisters, Charity. That’s all the family I’ll have.”
He opened his door, climbing inside.
“You’re not going to have a family of your own?”
“No.”
“You don’t know that.”
“I’m not going to have kids. There’s no way I’d ever hurt them,” he said.
“I’m starting to think you need a therapist more than I do.”
“Keep your thoughts to yourself.”
He started up the car, and Charity burst out laughing. “Wow, you have got one serious attitude. What is your problem?”
“I don’t have a problem.”
“It sounds to me like you do. You can talk to me about this. You’ve talked to me about killing people, so this should be a piece of cake.”
He glanced over at her and sighed. “You know who I am. I’ve got a reputation. Throughout high school I was known as a stud, but now, I’m known as The Nightmare. That when I come visit, everyone is going to end up dead.”
“Like the night you came for me.”
“Yes. Killing is what I’m good at. My dad, I don’t even remember what he looks like. I just remember that feeling that I always got whenever he was home. It’s fear, no doubt about it, fear of what is going to happen when he finds me. Hiding was never an option, nor was fighting it. I only had to wait, and he’d be there. My worst enemy, my own personal nightmare.”
“You’re afraid of being that way for another human being?”
“As far as I’m concerned, the Carson blood is tainted. I won’t ever run that risk of being something that my father was to me.”
“Dwayne, you’re not like that.”
“You don’t know me. Not the real me. You don’t know what it’s like.”
“I know you’re my friend,” she said. “When I’m with you, there’s no safer place to be than with you. I like being around you, Dwayne. No matter what your father was like, it doesn’t mean you’ll turn out like him. Your uncles haven’t, and they were his brothers.”
“Exactly. There’s no guarantee their mother was faithful. I’ve got his blood, and no matter what I’m not going to risk it.” She went to say something else, but he shook his head. “No more, please. I’m sorry for being a bastard to you. I shouldn’t have said those things.”
“I forgive you.”
“You forgive way too easily.”
She chuckled. “For you, yes.” She patted his arm, and he didn’t like how much he craved that contact.
****
The days passed, and before long it was graduation day. Charity saw her parents, so damn proud, smiling and clapping. Yes, she’d graduated, her grades were good, but again, she didn’t know what to do with her life. She’d been looking at tourist spots across Europe, and none of them really appealed. In fact, the only time she really enjoyed anymore was the moments she shared with Dwayne. They didn’t speak about his lack of desire to want a family or anything like that. That topic was off the board.
He talked about work, which was refreshing as he didn’t hold back nor treat her as a child.
His honesty at times astounded her.
He was also there for prom night. She didn’t go to a dance. Instead, she sat outside on the school bleachers while everyone danced the night away inside the building. Dwayne came to her as she sat outside. He sat down beside her, holding out one of those metal flasks that men seemed to love. They’d not even needed to talk.
The music had drifted out, and there on the pitch, with no one around them, he danced with her. It had been a pretty awesome prom night without any friends, just Dwayne. To most people he was a nightmare, but to her, he was so much more. In way, he was her knight with a gun. He’d come for her when no one else could or would. Singlehandedly, he’d taken on the men that kept her captive.
“I’m so proud of you honey,” her mother said, drawing her in for another hug and pushing the memory of prom night to the back of her thoughts.
“Thank you.”
“So, you’re no longer a high school senior. What are you going to do?” Her father wrapped his arms around her shoulders, pulling her in for a hug.
“I don’t know, party, get drunk, get arrested.” She laughed along with her parents. She played her part well for them and for her therapist. They didn’t really want to know the truth. They only wanted to know that she was moving on, that she wasn’t struggling. So, she didn’t show them that she struggled. Instead, she considered it an acting job, being the perfect daughter around them, and when it came to Dwayne, she was always herself. “I think I’m just going to go and think. Maybe hang out with a few friends. Is that okay?”
“Of course it is, honey.” Her parents hugged her again, and she stood, watching as they left the main graduation area.
She was no longer a high school student. Glancing across the grassy area, she saw all of her friends, or the people that used to be her friends. They were having a good time, and looked happy, and she was happy for them, but that wasn’t who she was.
“Look at you in your graduation garb.”
She spun around, and there Dwayne stood, in the shadows, easily missed if people weren’t looking.
“I didn’t think you were going to come.”
“Why not? This is your big day.”
“Did you have a lot of fun on your day?”
“Yeah, partied a lot, had sex, drank a lot.” He shrugged his shoulders. “What are your big plans?”
“I don’t have any.”
“Where are you parents?”
“I asked them for some time. They think I’m going to hang out with my friends.”
“I can’t give you a lame ass party, but I can give you some fun.”
She tilted her head to the side, watching him. “You promise?”
“Hell yeah, but remove the gown. It makes you look like a clown.”
She was already taking it off as she followed him across the parking lot toward his car. Climbing in, she breathed in the scent of his leather. He had one awesome car. Sitting back, she turned her head to watch him as he started up the car and pulled out of the parking lot.
“So, do we want to remember everything or not?”
“I don’t care. Just make it fun.”
“Fun! Got it.”
He put his foot on the gas, and she let out a little squeal as the car seemed to go at a speed she wasn’t used to. Winding down her window, she stuck her head out and enjoyed the freedom. Her hair was down, and she closed her eyes.
Dwayne put some music on. The sounds of rock filled the air, and she just let loose, allowing the freedom that he granted her to take over, to completely rock her entire world.
“I love this!” She threw her arms out the window and screamed.
She was no long a high school girl.
Her life was changing, as was her world.
Charity didn’t know how long they were driving for, but he pulled up outside a bar.
“Am I old enough to be here?”
“You’re with me. That’s all they need to know.” He took hold of her hand, and she felt giddy from that touch alone. Everything seemed to be hyper-sensitive at the moment. She followed his lead, and they entered the busy bar. There were several men playing pool. Some of them had leather cuts on that claimed them to be part of some club. Dwayne didn’t seem to mind, and as they sat at a table, a waitress was already there to take their order.
It wasn’t long before they both had a beer and a couple of shots lined up on the table. Music filtered throughout the whole of the bar. Dwayne didn’t even seem to care that people were glancing at him with the odd few whispers.
“Dwayne, are you sure this is a safe place?”
“Yeah, nowhere safer. A lot of people here have their own problems, and don’t worry, if a fight starts, I’m here to protect you.”
“That doesn’t make me feel any better.” She glanced left and right, and people were watching him as if he was going to explode or something. It made a change to be sitting with someone who was the one getting pointed or laughed at. Pushing some hair back off her shoulder, she decided to ignore all the stares and focus on Dwayne.
He was, after all, the only reason she was here.
“What are we going to do?” she asked.
“We are going to play a game.”
“Oh, yeah, like what?”
“Answer a question and if you’ve not done it, drink; if you have, don’t drink,” he said.
“Wait, isn’t that wrong how you play it?” she asked.
“Don’t care. It’s how we’re going to play it. Ready?”
“I have no idea.”
“Okay, here goes. Have you ever pranked your parents?” he asked.
She rolled her eyes. “Which kid hasn’t?” She was shocked when he downed a shot, but then she recalled him talking about his dad. “My turn?”
“Yes.”
“Have you ever kissed a girl you’ve not met?” She picked up a shot watching as his brow rose up.
“You’re a virgin, Charity. You’re going to get very drunk very quickly, so let’s see if we can make this game more interesting. I’ll drink a shot if I’ve done something that I love doing, and you drink if you’d like for it to happen to you.”
Her cheeks heated. He sounded so sexy, so sensual.
“All right, go ahead.”
“I love getting head.”
“Wow, this is just—”
“You ever thought about it?” he asked, cutting her off.
She rolled her eyes and tipped back her shot. “Fine, sex in a public place, have you ever done it?”
He knocked back a shot. “What about you? Thought about it?”
She shook her head. “Nope, not thought about it once.”
“Not even in a park or beneath the stars?”
“I’m not that romantic, Dwayne Carson.”
“Huh,” he said, watching her.
“What?”
“I don’t know. I guess I did have you as the romantic sort.”
“Not even close, buddy, not even close.” She didn’t have romantic ideas. Her parents were always talking about marriage and kids, and a family. She thought about it, but it wasn’t something that filled her with excitement or made her ache or want it.
No, she wanted something more.
Passion.
Excitement.
Something that was completely unpredictable but so exciting as well.
This was what she loved about being with Dwayne. He made life fun, and she loved being around him.
“Have you ever thought about having sex?”
She took a deep breath and knocked back a shot. “I’m going to have to slow down, and, yes, I’ve thought about it. Why are you suddenly so interested in sex?”
“It has been a long day.”
“It’s not that late.”
“I’ve not gone to bed yet.” He knocked back two more shots and then took a long swig of beer. “Let’s dance.”
She didn’t argue, stepping into his arms as they made their way onto the dance floor.
“What were you doing?” she asked, wanting to know why he seemed so strange.
“I had a bad night. That’s all you need to know.”
“Talk to me, Dwayne.”
He held her a little tighter, and she closed her eyes, loving his scent even if he hadn’t showered or changed.
“There’s a lot of bad people in the world. Fucking animals.”
She held him, too, not caring anymore about anything else but being there for him.