TWENTY-FIVE
John
“What happened?” I growl, venom in my voice.
“Are you close?” Pen grates out.
“Tell me what’s happened to Connor.”
“I can’t explain. You just need to be here quick.” Pen then ends the call, which raises my anxiety to an epic level. “Get me to the Wild’s home. Something happened, but Pen won’t tell me.”
“Faster than the speed of light.” Fig puts the SUV into gear and we take off to Connor’s home, which is a block over.
I glance at Fig. He says the strangest things sometimes. “Really?”
He doesn’t bother looking at me as a wide smile crests his face. “I can’t help it. I’m a sci-fi geek.”
“It’s not the only thing you are,” I mumble under my breath.
Within minutes, Fig has the vehicle in front of the Wild residence. I rush through the front door, which was unlocked. A growl rises up in my throat as I see Pen standing by the back slider door. “You asshole, you forgot to lock the front door. Anyone could have come in.”
Pen glances at me for a moment before returning his attention to the backyard. “I just unlocked it, knowing you had to be close.” He then points outside, toward the tree house. “Connor’s up there.”
I glare at the bodyguard. “If he’s okay, then why in the hell am I here?”
“Because he needs you right now. He just unloaded to his mother about Jessup. All. Of. It,” he bites out.
Shit.
“You oughta go talk to him,” Fig relays as he takes a seat at the kitchen island. He picks up a fork from the counter and stabs a piece of meat off a plate.
“Fucktard, that’s mine,” Pen hisses.
“Where’s Amanda?” I ask Pen, but my focus remains on the tree house and the dim light in the window. There is a shadow moving about inside, and my gut’s telling me something’s off.
Without waiting for a response, I open the slider and rush over to the ladder. I pause, listening for any noises. And that’s when I hear them. Them .
Connor isn’t alone.
Jessup.
I quickly but quietly climb the ladder until my head touches the hatch door. From this vantage point, I can hear the ensuing argument between Connor and… His uncle.
“I told you I never want to see you again. What don’t you understand?”
“But sweetheart?—”
“I fucking told you never to call me that. You are a sick, twisted man and I want you to stay away from me and my mother. You’re not family.”
“Don’t fucking say that,” Jessup roars, before I hear scuffling above me.
Without hesitation, I push the hatch door open with all my strength and climb through as fast as I can. What I see is Connor hunched over, against the wall, with Jessup’s hands wrapped around my guy’s throat.
Connor’s eyes meet mine with wide surprise. “John.”
His plea has me reaching for Jessup, but my bulk and height is a disadvantage in the limited space inside the tree house. I manage to grab his shirt, and yank him back, but only so far.
“I told you to stay away from Connor. He’s mine. But now you’re finished. Your spying days are over. All those pictures you’ve saved of him is your ticket to jail for a very long time.”
Jessup stumbles backward, his back slamming against the opposite wall while my fingers grip his throat.
“Connor’s mine. He was never yours. I love him and he loves me. He told me so, a long time ago. Our love will last forever. You are nothing to him,” Jessup shrieks. “Nothing!”
“What are you talking about, John?” Connor’s trembling voice cuts through some of my rage-filled haze center on Jessup.
I glance back at Connor. “He’s been watching you since you were young. He has pictures of you…” I shake my head, knowing I have to tell him the truth of what we found.
“Pictures?” he utters in question.
“When you were a baby, up to now. Lee also found a few on the dark web.”
Connor’s eyes dart to his uncle. “Is that true?”
Jessup is shaking his head. “I didn’t mean to share my precious photos of you. I thought they were like me. But they weren’t. When I realized they were terrible people, I tried to remove your pictures but it was too late. Connor, I’m not like those sick-fucks. I don’t like touching children. I love you, and only?—”
“Stop talking,” Connor cries out. “John.”
“I got him. Pen and Fig are down there. Climb down and tell them to call the police,” I say, keeping a tight hold on Jessup, who’s trying to struggle out of my hold.
“Sweetheart, don’t leave me. I’ve devoted my life to you. I stayed away like your father wanted, but I made sure you were safe. I even took care of that bully, the one who punched you. Don’t you remember?”
Connor abruptly stops at the entry of the hatch and looks back at his uncle. “Oh my God—that was you who put Joe Marten in a coma? He was only twelve years old.”
I’ve seen depravity before, but this bastard is in a whole other league.
As Connor climbs down, Jessup twists and manages to get out of my hold. With a lucky swing, his fist lands on my temple, temporarily knocking me backwards and onto my ass. I’m seeing stars.
“Connor,” Jessup screams and dives for the open hatch hole. “I love you. Don’t leave me again.”
I lunge forward, my arms snagging him around the waist, hoping to stall his exit. But his downward momentum has me falling with him, and out of the tree house. In a blink, I’m on the ground, sprawled onto my side. Pain rips through my body and my head.
“John,” Connor shouts, before kneeling next to me, tentatively touching my face. “Don’t fucking die on me, damn it.”
“No, not today,” I wheeze, then groan, knowing in that instant that I broke a couple of ribs. I open my eyes and meet his beautiful green ones. “Hey.”
“Hey.” Tears stream down Connor’s handsome face. “I thought I lost you.”
“Oh my God.” I hear Amanda gasp. “What have you done, Jessup?”
My eyes shift to the still form several feet to my right. His left leg is at an awkward angle, and so is his right arm.
“I’m sorry, Am-anda. Connor, I…” Jessup has his hand out for Connor, but he doesn’t move from my side. “I love…”
It’s the last thing Jessup Wild says before his hand drops and his body stills.
Fig carefully bends over and feels for a pulse on the man’s neck. “He’s dead.”
Amanda begins to cry harder, while Connor returns his gaze to me. He lets out a whoosh of breath and says, “It’s over.” Though, there is sadness creasing the corners of his eyes.
“Go hug your mom, I’m okay.”
Connor softly snorts. “You’re not.” But he stands anyway, and goes to his mother.
Pen bends down and looks me over. “Stop being a diva and try not to move. The paramedics are on their way, along with the cops.”
I grunt in pain as I try to turn my head and glare at him. “Get away from me, or I’m going to kick your ass.”
Pen chuckles. “Good. Feeling better already.”
“Did you call Tobias and Dean?” I ask, while trying not to move, but the ground is cold and hard, and that’s making it difficult to stay still.
“Yeah,” Fig approaches. “They are on the way.”
“Great. The fucking calvary. Did you tell them not to bother?”
“You wanna call Danny and tell him that?” Fig smirks.
“Jesus. Fine.”
I peer over at Connor, who has his mother in a fierce hug. His watery eyes dart to me, and an understanding passes between us.
We’re going to talk once this is done. I promise .
I get it. We still have unresolved issues between us. But once we talk it out and I let him know how I feel about him, there will be no going back. He’s mine, and I won’t let him go.