Cason welled up and he jerked a nod. “Whatever you want, baby. Whatever you want.”
Cason held me as tightly as he could without injuring me and I lost myself in the security of his arms.
I may not have snagged the quarterback but that was okay, I caught the ultimate, untamable bad boy.
And now, I realized, that’s all I ever wanted.
I’d never been into football much anyway.
Epilogue
Cason
Life was funny.
Holly recovered from her injury and we spent some quality time getting to truly know each other.
I shared what Johnny had told about her mother and after we did some digging, we discovered that Johnny had been truthful.
Gidget Sommers was, indeed, Holly’s mother and she’d disappeared when Holly was around four years old, which was exactly when Butcher had taken over Holly’s care.
The Feds had taken the black book and run with it. So far, several high-ranking officials, including a few police captains, had been collared for accepting bribes, and the Ice Town Rebels were in a state of complete chaos since their leader had been taken down.
In an ironic twist, Butcher had listed Holly as his only heir and beneficiary, clearly planning for Holly to play along, and after the Feds had sifted through the cash flow, determining which was legit and which was illegal, Holly had inherited a tidy sum of cash.
Which was good, because I was no longer an active member of the Cold Heart Crew. Tito remained and I didn’t blame him. Some things were hard to quit.
I didn’t have to be jumped out or anything like that, my crew were decent people, just a little on the shady side of the law.
And I was okay with that.
They’d been my family when I’d had none.
But now, that was all about to change.
“Ready?” the nurse asked as I donned the blue gown and tied a mask around my face.
“Hell yes,” I said, anxious to get in that room with my girl.
Her screams had echoed off the hospital walls but Holly was tougher than nails.
I was about to meet our child.
Holly whimpered as I entered, the doctor crouched between my woman’s thighs. I suffered a low growl at the familiarity but as Holly had repeatedly told me, doctors didn’t count like that. To them, one vagina was the same as the other.
All that mattered was a healthy baby.
I pressed a kiss to her damp forehead and she swatted at me. “Don’t touch me,” she snarled and I smiled at the ferocity in her voice. She was like a wolverine. And damn, the girl had teeth, too. She screeched, “I hate you!”
The nurse was quick to assure me that, “All birthing mothers say that at some point” and I nodded, a little scared of my wife.
“Bear down,” the doctor instructed and Holly grunted like a bear. There was a huge gush and a tiny head popped out.
I never thought I’d find myself watching my child come out of a woman but I knew without a doubt I was the luckiest son-of-a-bitch in the world.
I blinked back tears as I urged her to push. “One more time, baby,” I encouraged. “Almost there.”
Holly’s face turned florid with the effort and suddenly the baby slithered free in a whoosh of fluids, landing in the doctor’s arms, fists waving and squalling like a banshee.
I held my breath as the doctor wiped away the goo and said, “Congratulations, Dad, it’s a girl,” and I nearly passed out from sheer joy.
“It’s a girl, baby,” I said through my unmanly tears. “She’s beautiful. Or I’m sure she’s beautiful, I can’t really tell because she’s covered in snot or something, I don’t know but I love you so much!”
I was babbling but I didn’t care. The doctor handed me the scissors to cut the cord and I did it without hesitation, separating my daughter from her mother.
Holly was weak but smiling. “Is she okay?”
“She’s perfect,” I told her and that was the truth. “With a lot of reddish hair. She’s going to look just like her beautiful mama.”
The doctor wrapped the baby and handed her to me so I could show Holly. I trembled as I stared at the perfection in my arms.
“She’s…she’s…oh God, Holly, she’s amazing,” I said, unable to stop crying. To my screaming daughter, I vowed, “I swear to you I’ll be the best father. But I don’t actually know what I’m doing yet so cut me some slack,” I begged, causing Holly to laugh and hold out her arms. I placed the baby in Holly’s arms and I had to choke back the flood of emotion threatening to swamp me.
“She’s so perfect,” Holly murmured, wiping at her sudden tears. She looked at me with love. “We made this little person. You and I.”
I couldn’t speak. I could only rattle my head in a nod.
Gone was the evil demon that’d taken over my wife during labor and my sweet Holly had returned.
Everything was…more than I ever dreamed I could ask for.
“What’s her name?” the nurse asked, smiling.
Holly and I shared a look, both in agreement. I answered, “Sommerleigh.”
A tribute to the mother Holly had never known.
A promise to the child Holly had given life to.
I leaned over and kissed the sweet crown of my daughter’s fuzzy head, murmuring, “Wait until I tell you how mommy and me met…”
Holly gasped and shot me a warning look. “Don’t you dare…”
I just grinned.
Yeah…life was funny.
But, damn near, perfect.
And I was good with that.
Against The Wall
AGAINST THE WALL
By Alexx Andria
© 2016 Alexx Andria. All rights reserved.
Cover by Mayhem Cover Creations
No part of this NOVEL may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher. All characters are fictitious and any resemblance to an actual person is purely coincidental.
The following NO
VEL is approximately 55,000 words and an original work of fiction based on the original short story by Alexx Andria, BAD BOY WITH A BADGE.
Jameson
I’m not a good man.
I drink too much, fuck too much, and been accused of being an asshole more times than I can count but I put away scumbags for a living so that ought to count for something, right?
But lines blur after being undercover for a while.
Six months of hanging out with the lowest dregs of society had a way of changing you.
I couldn’t deny it.
And yeah, if I was rough around the edges before…I’m fucking sharp as razor wire now.
Sometimes I cut with a look.
But that’s the gig.
The greater good and all that shit.
I bear the burden of all that weight so that Average Joe Citizen can snore next to his wife, eat bran cereal to stay regular and never think twice about the things that he pays taxes to provide.
But, fuck, sometimes the life gets under your skin.
Like an itch you can’t scratch but slowly drives you insane.
Maybe that’s what I’ll plead when I get caught.
Caught doing what you ask?
Hell, why trashing my career for the hottest piece of ass I’d ever seen, that’s what.
She came to the precinct to bail out her dirtbag older brother, Frankie Callen.
I’d busted Frankie earlier that day, hoping to shake things up but I hadn’t expected her to walk through the doors.
Long, honey-blonde hair that begged to be wrapped around my fist, big blue eyes and the nicest set of tits that made my fucking mouth water just to look at them — and if that wasn’t enough to make my dick stand straight up, the air of sweetness clinging to her would’ve made me bust a nut right there.
She was arguing with Reggie, our front desk person.
“He hasn’t been arraigned yet,” Reggie said for the second time, her tone as clipped as her mouth was pursed. “You’ll just have to wait until Friday.”
“It’s only Monday,” she pointed out desperately. “Please, can I just see him for a few minutes? It’s important.”