Wild Man

Chapter Sixteen When Exes Attack

I had my head thrown back, Brock’s hand was lifting my breast to his mouth, his mouth pulling hard on my nipple, his other hand was curved around my other breast, thumb circling the nipple, my fingers were in his hair and I was grinding into him hard.

I’d accepted a lift from Daisy (who was my new best friend seeing as she had a limo and a driver and she was sweet and she was hilarious) to get to Brock’s from Club and I’d done this because I was more than slightly inebriated.

I’d also attacked my drowsy hot guy bad boy the minute I hit his bedroom and I’d done this because, as I said, I was more than slightly inebriated.

Obviously, he didn’t mind.

I started to make noises that Brock had heard many a time thus he did not misinterpret, his mouth left my nipple, his thumb stopped circling the other one only to be joined by a finger and start rolling and he growled his order of, “Mouth.”

I stopped grinding and started to ride him, whimpering deep, too caught up in what was happening between my legs to respond immediately.

“Tess, mouth, ” he growled again, my head tipped down, his hand slid up my spine, my neck, fingers in my hair, my whimpers became gasps as the sensations grew brilliantly desperate, he pressed my mouth down so my lips were against his, my noises filling his mouth, I was this close when we heard the knock on the door.

We both froze, me doing it after a downward glide so I was full of Brock.

Then both our heads turned to the door when we heard Joel call, “Dad? Mom’s on the phone. She says it’s urgent.”

Oh.

My.

God.

“Tell me this isn’t happening,” Brock whispered, his voice super low but vibrating with fury.

I wanted to tell him it wasn’t happening. I really, really wanted to tell him that. But I couldn’t tell him it wasn’t happening because it was.

My eyes went beyond Brock to the alarm clock on his nightstand to see it was two thirty-four in the morning.

A nanosecond later, Brock’s hands were at my waist, he pulled me swiftly but gently off him, twisted and then I had my back to the bed, head to the pillows.

He quickly bent and kissed my belly, rolled out of bed and tossed the covers over me as he called, “Just a sec, Joey.”

I pulled the covers all the way up to my neck and watched Brock tag his pajama bottoms from the floor, tug them on and stalk to the door. Then I watched him put his hand to the doorknob, take in a deep breath then open the door a wide crack while crouching at the same time.

Then I heard a Joey I couldn’t see say a trembling, “Sorry, Dad, but she sounds scared.”

I felt my mouth get tight as I watched by the hall light Joel had turned on as Brock’s did the same then I saw him reach out a hand.

Then I watched him put a cell phone to his ear and my brows drew together.

Since when did Joel have a cell phone? The kid was twelve, for goodness sakes.

“Olivia?” I heard Brock ask as I turned and shoved my hand under my pillow to grab my nightie. “Intruders?” Brock enquired as I struggled to get it on under the bedclothes then,

“Where’s Dade?” Pause then, “Have you called the cops?” Another pause then, “Yeah, I’m the cops, Olivia, but I’m not available for personalized twenty-four, seven callouts. Call the cops.” He paused while I got the nightgown down then rolled, put a hand to the floor and stretched an arm out to nab my panties. “You won’t, I will, Olivia, if someone’s there their ETA will be a fuckuva lot shorter than mine. Stay put and I’ll call dispatch.”

I was not having an easy time pulling my panties on under the sheets as I heard Brock snap the cell closed then, “Wait here, buddy, I’ll be right back.”

I got my panties up and watched Brock prowl, face set in stone, to the nightstand. He turned on the light, grabbed his cell off the nightstand and I rolled off the bed.

Then I went to the door.

I got to it and opened it further to see a pale-faced, scared-looking Joel standing in the hall.

The bad news was, Joey looked scared. The good news was, Joey didn’t look psychologically damaged at possibly hearing his father having sex with his girlfriend.

Immediately, I put my hand to his neck and whispered, “It’s gonna be all right, baby, come on in,” and I guided him in as Brock spoke.

“Yeah, this is Detective Lucas, homicide. My ex-wife just called, worried there’s an intruder at her home. Can you send a unit…?”

He gave the address as I guided Joel to the bed and sat him on the edge of it, me sitting close to his side and wrapping an arm around his waist.

His eyes were glued to his Dad.

“Appreciate it,” Brock stated. “Can you give me a callback, let me know the state of play?” He nodded. “Thanks.”

Then he flipped his phone shut, opened it again, hit buttons and put it to his ear.

Then he said, “Just called dispatch, a unit is gonna swing by. Hold tight, they should be there in around five.”

Then he didn’t wait for an answer and flipped his phone closed.

Finally, his eyes went to his son, “Everything’s gonna be all right, Joey. Unit will be there soon.”

Joel nodded.

“Your brother sleepin’?” Brock asked.

Joel shrugged. “I guess.”

“Well, if he is, don’t wake him but go down, be quiet, find his cell and bring it up to me, yeah?”

Joel nodded again then jumped from the bed and took off.

The minute he left, the room filled with the harsh sandpaper of Brock’s extremely pissed off mood.

“Cells?” I asked cautiously.

“Found out durin’ our talk that Olivia bought them both cells yesterday, said they were New Year’s sales treats. What it was was preparation for a middle of the night stealth attack.”

I bit my lip and nodded.

Then, still cautious, I queried, “Um… why didn’t she call the cops?”

“Said if it wasn’t an intruder, she didn’t want to look like an idiot or waste their time.”

Hmm. Seems she didn’t mind wasting Brock’s time. Or waking him up. Or Joel for that matter.

Again cautious, I asked, “Did she honestly think you were going to get up in the middle of the night, go to her house and check?”

He gave me a look. That look told me exactly how Olivia had made Brock’s life miserable in the years they were divorced but she was not married to Dade.

I decided to stop asking questions.

Brock opened Joel’s new phone, hit some buttons which I suspected powered it down, closed it, opened his nightstand drawer, dropped it in with a clatter then shoved the drawer closed so violently, his lamp wobbled on top.

Oh man.

“Honey,” I whispered.

“I got it in check, babe,” he rumbled and I shut up because he did but I could tell only barely.

Joel came back and the instant he hit the room, the atmosphere changed though it only became non-abrasive. The spark and flash of electricity still filled the air. He gave his Dad his brother’s phone, Brock did a repeat of the power down, drawer thing but without the lamp wobble and Joel watched him do it.

Then his eyes lifted to his father’s.

“Dad –”

“Benefit of the doubt, Joey,” Brock cut him off to say. “Yeah?”

I didn’t get this but Joel did because he nodded. Then he shuffled his feet and his eyes moved to glue themselves to the cell in his father’s hand.

It came to me in that moment that I should have asked my drowsy bad boy about the important talk he had with his sons rather than jumped his bones.

Alas, I did not.

Very long seconds ticked by in silence then I broke it with, “Joey, honey, you want me to make you some hot cocoa?”

Joel tore his eyes from his father’s phone and looked at me.

“No, thanks, Tess,” he mumbled.

“You want to come over here and sit down with me?” I asked.

“I…” he hesitated, looked to his Dad then walked over to me and sat down but not close.

I pulled in a light breath and looked to Brock and saw his eyes on his son and his jaw so hard, a muscle was jumping in his cheek.

Then he started pacing.

I got up, went to the bathroom and belatedly took out contacts that had been in way too long. Then I left the bathroom and grabbed one of his flannels, pulling it on to cover my nightie thinking I might need either to break my vow not to go to the mall or hit a computer to buy a robe to leave at Brock’s since the only one I owned at home was warm, fluffy, I’d had it since before Damian and therefore it was ratty-assed.

I needed a Brock’s Place Robe.

Then I dashed downstairs, dug my glasses out of my purse, slid them on my nose, ran back upstairs and sat down on the bed closer to Joel than he sat by me and I let out a silent sigh when he didn’t move away.

Then we waited for a decade (slight exaggeration) while Brock paced or, more aptly, prowled the room, his pissed off energy filling the air.

Joel and I both jumped when Brock’s cell rang.

Instantly, he flipped it open and put it to his ear.

“Detective Lucas,” he answered then, “Yeah.” Then a pause before another, “Yeah.” Then more listening then scarily a, “No shit, this is my life.” Another pause then, “Yeah, cryin’

wolf, won’t happen again.” Then, finally, “Yeah, thanks,” and he flipped his phone shut.

Then he turned to Joel. “No sign of intruders, buddy. Your mother is perfectly fine and the officer reports Dade answered the door. Dade reported his alarm system is comprehensive, inside and out and it was set. Anyone gets within two feet of the perimeter of an entry into the house, including a window, a signal sounds inside the house, goes to the security company and if one of the windows or doors are breached, a message is sent direct to police dispatch.

Did you know that?”

Head tipped back to look at his Dad, Joel shook it slowly while his lip trembled.

God, God, God, I fucking hated Olivia McManus-soon-to-be-whatever-the-fuck.

“The alarm did not signal,” Brock told him.

Joel nodded, lip still trembling.

Brock held his son’s eyes. Then he sucked in a heavy breath.

Then he held out an arm and said gently, “Come on, buddy, I’ll walk you to your room.”

Joel nodded again, got up, muttered a, “’Night, Tess, sorry,” without looking at me and scurried out of the room.

Brock followed him without looking at me either.

I scooted into the bed, arranged the pillows behind my back, rested against them, legs crossed and I pulled the covers up to my waist. Then I noticed that my happy, cosmopolitans with the girls buzz was long gone and my other, happier, having fun with Brock buzz was way gone.

Yep, totally fucking hated Olivia McManus-soon-to-be-whatever-the-fuck.

Brock returned some time later, I straightened my back from the headboard where I was resting while contemplating vacation spots which graduated to me contemplating getaway options where we’d head when I took Brock, Joel and Rex on the run and I watched him close the door. Then I watched him walk in the room, stop, flip the phone he still held open and hit some buttons.

Then he put it to his ear and waited while I bit my lip and braced.

This was a good idea.

Olivia obviously picked up for Brock growled low, “Even for you, that was low. FYI for future, the bullshit with the phones is done. They can have ‘em during the day but the minute they enter this house, they’re turned off and confiscated. You do not enter this house. Ever.

Any fuckin’ way you can do it. And warning, Olivia, you can kiss your sons good-bye which means you can kiss any support you think you can drain outta me good-bye. You don’t get them and you don’t get a dime. You just declared war and mark this, woman, I’ll stop at nothin’ to win. You… are… fucked.”

Then he closed his phone but stood there staring at it and I knew he did this because he was struggling with the urge to throw it.

“Baby,” I called softly and his head came up.

“Just got finished explainin’ to my twelve year old boy that it is highly unlikely that his mother has lived in that house with Dade for over two years and doesn’t realize they have top notch security. Then I told him, should she be worried about intruders anyway, she should call 911 as everyone knows to call 911, they even got dogs trained to dial nine fuckin’ one fuckin one.”

Oh man.

Brock kept talking. “Then I told him, if she’s freaked, she should go to her husband. If they’re not gettin’ along and she’s freaked and forgets what to do, she should call me direct.

What she should not do, under any circumstances, is call a twelve year old kid in the middle of the fuckin’ night and scare the shit outta him. And then I had to explain why she called him which was, essentially, so she could scare the shit outta him and yank my chain. Then my kid started cryin’.”

Yep, totally hated her.

“Honey, come here,” I whispered.

He held my eyes, I watched with despair as his eyes grew conflicted then he dropped his head and looked at his feet as he lifted a hand and curled his fingers around the back of his neck.

Okay, I was wrong.

Before, I just disliked her intensely.

Now, I totally fucking hated her.

“Brock, baby, come here, ” I urged, his hand dropped and his head came up.

“I did not want this for them,” he whispered and I felt my throat clog.

“Come here,” I repeated huskily.

“Did everything I could to protect them from this shit,” he went on. “I should never have taken that cover that took me outta their lives for a whole fuckin’ year.”

I gave up, threw the covers back and went to him. I got close, wrapped my arms around him and pressed deep.

I tipped my head back when his arms curved around me and my eyes locked with his.

“She is who she is,” I said quietly. “And because she is, even if you didn’t take that cover, they would eventually learn who she is because she is who she is. You have no responsibility for her actions. You were doing your job, your job was important but it required sacrifices.

There are a lot of important jobs men and women take that require them to make that kind of sacrifice. Soldiers for one. And undercover DEA agents for another.”

“Yeah, Tess, but –”

I interrupted him. “You have to be who you are. If you’re doing something important and you believe in it, you have to do it even if that means sacrifices. You have to do it because that’s how you teach them to do the same.”

“Tess –”

I cut him off this time by giving him a squeeze.

“She’s doing this to herself. Do you think they live in fear of whatever reaction she’ll have, whatever tantrum she’ll throw and they’ll not cotton on eventually?” I asked but didn’t wait for his answer, I shook my head and gave him another squeeze. “No way, Brock. Those are your boys and they are far from stupid.”

One of his arms left me so he could curl his fingers around my neck as he whispered,

“Baby.”

“It’s your duty to teach them to be good men. You learned because you had a good mother and despite a bad father. They’ve got the opposite. You’re obligated to do this anyway but in this situation you’re all they’ve got. There is no escaping it and it wouldn’t matter what they faced in their lives, you’d still have to do it. And part of being a good man is being a strong one, doing what you believe in, standing up for yourself and the ones you love and protecting them from harm and you’re doing that. Think about what happened when you were growing up. I’m sure Fern wanted to protect you but she couldn’t, that was your life. You can’t protect them from this because it’s a part of their life. What you can do is help them understand what’s happening around them and teach them how to cope. It sucks that you had to explain to your son that his mother scared him on purpose just to fuck with you but you were right to do it.”

His fingers dug hard into my neck and his eyes flared.

Then his fingers relaxed and his head dropped so he could touch his mouth to mine.

When he lifted his head, I told him softly, “We need to talk about your talk.”

He nodded but said, “That was only a little less painful than this shit tonight.”

Not good news.

I licked my lips then pressed them together.

Then I gave him a gentle tug toward the bed and whispered, “All right, come to bed and tell me.”

Brock studied me for a minute then his fingers left my neck to slide up into my hair then down through the back of it.

Then we went to bed and he told me.

Then he turned out the light, he held me and I held him back until he fell asleep in my arms but I lay awake in his.

And only then did I let the silent tears of frustration and powerlessness fall.

But luckily there were only a few.

Then I burrowed into my man and fell asleep.