Annabelle
Nothing in this world would ever compare to Phoenix’s lips on mine. They were the poison and the antidote, one in the same. His kiss started soft, just a touch of his lips to mine, but it quickly became more urgent. He pressed harder, squeezing me to him. When his tongue slipped into my mouth, I think my heart stopped for several beats. Every bit of nervous tension disappeared as I melted into his embrace, kissing him back with 20 years’ worth of passion.
Suddenly, he pulled his lips away from mine, but continued to cup my cheek with his hand. His eyes were wild, his breathing heavy. He groaned, “That was the hardest thing I have ever done, pulling away from you, but we need to talk first. Just, promise me one thing?”
“What?” I asked. I would promise him anything.
“Promise you’ll let me kiss you again when all is said and done.”
I felt myself blush like a teenager. The things this man could do to me. “I promise,” I said softly, trying to mask my smile.
His hand slid from my cheek to my neck where he gently caressed my skin. “What happened to your birthmark?”
Suddenly feeling self-conscious, I took a step back and covered my neck with my hand. “I had it lasered off years ago. I was told to keep it covered because it was a distinct physical characteristic and I got tired of covering it with makeup every morning.”
Phoenix nodded in understanding. After several beats of silence, he quietly asked, “Do you still have it?”
The hand covering my neck automatically moved to my forearm and absently rubbed over the area hidden underneath my sleeve. “Yes, I do.”
“Show me.”
I pushed my sleeve up and held my arm out to him. His large hand wrapped around my arm and his thumb reverently smoothed over the faint scar.
“Do you still have yours?” I asked.
One side of his mouth curved up into a half-smile as he nodded and extended his arm. There it was. The letter A lightly scarred into his skin framed by an ornate tribal tattoo.
I reached out and ran my fingers over the area, remembering the night we forever marked our bodies to show our love for each other.
I was brought back to the present when Phoenix cleared his throat and moved to take a seat on the bed. He kicked his boots off and situated himself so he was propped up against the headboard. “This is going to be a long conversation. Thought we might as well get comfortable.”
I nodded in agreement and moved to sit beside him, leaning back against the headboard as well. I pulled a pillow into my lap so I would have something to fidget with. I always fidgeted when I was nervous, and nervous didn’t even begin to cover how I was feeling. There were things I was going to have to tell him that I didn’t want to relive. I’m sure he had things to say to me that I didn’t want to hear. I decided to get the ball rolling. “How did you find me?”
“Octavius had a file containing a lot of information about you. In that file were hospital records for a Jane Doe and a Johnny Doe. It also contained handwritten notes made by Octavius. He thought you and Nivan were Jane and Johnny. Anyway, the thing that caught my eye was a doctor’s name on the hospital reports. That doctor is now a member of my club. I asked him about it. He told me what he knew and I went from there. To make a long story short, the guy that helped you, Luke, is a friend of mine.”
“Kathleen’s brother?” I asked.
“Yes. He’s also the one who led the investigation against Octavius and his men. Ultimately, the farm and all associated property were raided, all of Octavius’s men were arrested, and the entire operation was shut down,” he explained.
The entire operation was shut down. That sounded too good to be true. Before he said anything else, I had to know, “Are you absolutely sure Octavius is dead?”
He reached inside his cut and pulled out some papers. Shuffling through them, he removed two pieces and handed them to me. I couldn’t believe what I was holding in my hand. Octavius Jones’s death certificate. It should have been wrong to feel as happy as I did seeing in official black and white that Octavius was dead. Wrong or right, I didn’t care. Tears of relief freely streamed down my face. “It’s over,” I whispered. “It’s finally over.”
Phoenix shifted his weight. “He’s not a threat to you anymore, but it’s not over yet.” I looked at him quizzically. “I’m afraid some of the things I have to tell you, things that he is responsible for, will hurt you. I damn sure know they hurt me, but once you know everything, that’s when it will be over.”
My body shook with silent sobs. Would I ever be able to live my life without Octavius hanging over my head? What else could there be? By threatening the love of my life and his family, he stole my life from me, held me prisoner, and made me give him a son, not to mention the other loss I solely blamed him for, my sweet, innocent baby girl.
“Hey, it’s not all bad. I was upset at first, really fucking upset, but it turned out to be a good thing. Before we get to that part, let’s start with something easy, yeah?” I nodded my agreement. That sounded like a great idea to me. “Okay, is Nathan really Octavius’s son, Nivan?”
I choked on a sob. “Yes, but not like you think and you can’t tell him, Nathan, I mean. He doesn’t know. He was too young to remember much. He thinks his dad was a Marine who died in combat.” My rambling stopped abruptly when I realized what I’d said.
Shit.
Shit.
Shit.
I had almost convinced myself that story was the truth and it rolled off my tongue easily.
“It’s okay. It doesn’t matter what you told him and he doesn’t have to know if you don’t want him to. I’m not here to disrupt his life. What did you mean by ‘not like you think’?”
A large part of me really wanted to tell him this and another part of me was utterly embarrassed. Bracing myself for his reaction, I heaved in a breath and blurted, “Nathan is Octavius’s biological son, but he wasn’t conceived in the way nature intended.” There, that wasn’t so bad.
Phoenix cocked his head to the side. “I’m not following you, sweetheart.”
“I didn’t have sex with Octavius to conceive Nathan. I agreed to give him a son, I did not agree to give him myself, so Nathan was conceived by in vitro fertilization. I’m sorry, but I refuse to refer to my son by that other ridiculous name. I would appreciate it if you did the same.”
Phoenix had the biggest smile on his face. “I can do that. Nathan it is.”
I shook my head. “You’re such a man. Unpuff your chest, you big bastard.”
Phoenix threw his head back and laughed. “I won’t apologize for being happy about that,” he said through his laughter.
I giggled. “Yeah, I was quite proud of myself for figuring out a way around it. Octavius was a stickler for deals and agreements. He had this hang-up about being true to your word. Once I pointed out the technicality, he didn’t argue with me. He only cared about having a son to inherit the...oh, is that why you’re here?”
Phoenix sat up straighter. “No. That is not why I am here. I am here for you.” He turned his body toward me. “You don’t know what it has been like for me. I came back and you were gone. I looked everywhere for you. I’ve never stopped looking for you. It was like one day there was an Annabelle Burnett and the next day there wasn’t. The best private investigators in the country couldn’t find you. Hell, I even had Luke trying to find you.”
“I can explain that. When Kathleen asked Luke to help me, he told her he didn’t want to know my real name. She drove me to the hospital and I was admitted as Jane Doe. Your doctor friend helped me sneak out the back of the hospital where an SUV was waiting. I got in, was flown across the country, and given a new identity. Luke never knew who I was,” I told him.
“You just saved him from one hell of an ass-kicking,” he said, completely serious.
“What about Nathan? I have a report for a Johnny Doe saying he arrived with you and was later found dead in his hospital bed.”
My eyes widened in surprise. “That must have been something Luke did to help cover our tracks. Kathleen carried Nathan into the hospital and held him in her lap like he was her son while I was admitted. Since she supposedly didn’t know me, there was no reason for her to stay with me. She left the hospital with Nathan and handed him over to an agent who was waiting down the road. Once he had Nathan, he drove to the back of the hospital and waited for me to be brought out.”
Phoenix nodded. “Yeah, it sounds like Luke did a pretty good job of covering your tracks. I did find a death certificate for Nivan in Octavius’s files, but it’s obviously fake. From what I could tell, he was never able to prove Johnny Doe was actually Nivan. Sorry, Nathan.”
“So, if Octavius is dead and everyone thought Nathan died years ago, who did inherit the farm?” I asked hesitantly. I didn’t think Octavius had any other living relatives and I was suddenly afraid that he did. Would I need to hide from them for the rest of my life, too?
Phoenix’s face fell and his posture went from relaxed to rigid. He gritted out, “I did.”
“What?” I shrieked, leaping off the bed.
He pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed, “I recently found out my mother was married to Octavius’s father, Zayne, before she was married to the man I thought was my father. So, yeah, I’m actually Zayne’s firstborn son, the rightful inheritor of the dairy farm.”
“You’re Octavius’s brother?” I asked in disbelief.
“Half-brother biologically, but I don’t claim him or anyone in that family. I am a Black through and through.”
“Wait. You said the farm was raided and all operations were shut down. How did you inherit it if it was shut down?” I asked. I was so confused. It seemed like there was too much for my brain to keep up with.
“I should have said the illegal operations were shut down. The dairy farm itself was legit, but Octavius was using the land and other facilities on the property for numerous illegal activities. Gun running, drug distribution, loan sharking, kidnapping, human trafficking, the list goes on and on. I had no part in it and completely cooperated with the police during the investigation. Since I didn’t even know I had rights to the property, let alone what was going on out there, the property was deemed mine once the investigation was wrapped up,” he explained.
“I had no idea he was doing all of those things! I knew about the loan sharking, of course, because that’s how I ended up there, but I didn’t know anything about all of the other stuff.” A thought suddenly occurred to me. “Oh, Phoenix, were Kathleen and her husband arrested?”
He shook his head and softly smiled. “No, they were and still are legit employees of the dairy farm.”
That was good to hear. If it weren’t for Kathleen, the last 13 years of my life would have been hell. She would forever hold a special place in my heart for what she did for me and my son.
A sharp knock on my door startled me. Before I could ask who it was, the door flew open revealing Token. “Taylor, we need you out front right now!” Token shouted. That could only mean one thing.
I think my feet hit the ground once between my bed and the hallway. I ran as fast as I could to the front doors, which were luckily being held open for me. Skidding to a halt in the forecourt, I found exactly what I expected to find. My son had another young man pinned to the ground.
Nathan’s fury was palpable, but this wasn’t my first rodeo. Walking closer to my son, I softly said, “Nathan, let him go.”
His nostrils flared and he tightened the hand around the guy’s throat. “Not happening,” he grunted.
I moved a step or two closer, “Let him go, sweetheart. Token will hold him while you tell us what happened.”
“Not this time, Mom. This one is mine this time.”
I wasn’t surprised that my usual methods weren’t working. Nothing about the day had been typical. Why not end it with my son killing what looked to be one of Wave’s newer prospects?
“Give me one good reason why I should let you continue kicking this kid’s ass,” I demanded.
Nathan’s face reddened even more and I swear steam shot out of his nose. “He called you a muffler bunny and said I was nothing but a biker bastard still attached to your tit.”
Out of nowhere, Phoenix’s booted foot slammed into the side of the kid’s head, effectively knocking him out. Nathan looked up at Phoenix, his mouth agape. “Sorry to steal your thunder, kid, but nobody talks about your mother that way and gets away with it.”
“Damn straight! Strip his cut and put his punk ass on the curb!” Wave shouted, pushing his way through the crowd.
I placed my hands on Nathan’s shoulders. “Come on, baby, let’s go back inside and let them handle this.”
He reluctantly moved off of the unconscious man-child and let me lead him inside. I guided him back to my room. Once inside, I pulled him in for a hug. He’d been bigger than me for a long time, but he was still my baby. “Are you okay, son?”
He huffed. “I’m fine. I was fine, but the little fucker just wouldn’t shut up.”
“Language,” I admonished with a smile.
Phoenix and Wave came through the door, without knocking I might add. Nathan turned to Phoenix and held out his hand. “Thank you, sir.”
Phoenix grinned. “My pleasure. Nice job taking him down.”
My sweet Nathan’s cheeks flushed. Wave clapped him on the shoulder. “Our Nathan here has been working his ass off the last few years and, as of today, he is officially the newest member of the MMA team for the Northwest division of the United States Fighting League.”
“No shit? Congratulations, kid! That’s quite an accomplishment. I’m surprised you aren’t out celebrating,” Phoenix said sincerely.
“I wouldn’t have made it to where I am if it weren’t for my mom and the Knights. There’s nowhere else I would rather be celebrating tonight,” Nathan replied.
Phoenix directed his attention to me. “I’m going to head back to the hotel I’m staying at, let you and your boy celebrate your good news. We can catch up more tomorrow?”
I really, really wanted him to stay, but he was right. This was a huge moment for Nathan and I had done nothing but monopolize it. “Yes, tomorrow sounds good.”
Phoenix leaned closer, his deep voice awakening every nerve ending located in an erogenous zone, “You gonna make it easy on me and give me your number or are you going to make me hunt your fine ass down again?”
I managed to sputter out my phone number when all I wanted to do was kick everyone out, throw myself on the floor, and beg him to have his wicked way with me.
Phoenix stepped closer and pulled me into a hug. Well, what I thought was going to be a hug. He turned his body so he was shielding me from the other eyes in the room. His hand slid down to cup my ass while his lips latched onto my earlobe. He growled just low enough for me to hear, “I’m coming back for you in the morning. You best be ready for me.” He squeezed my ass cheek hard, placed a kiss on my temple, and left the room.