Easy Charm (Boudreaux 2)

The car stops and a man climbs out of it, and my whole world stands still.

“Oh shit,” Charly mutters next to me and is immediately on her feet, pulling her phone out of her bra. “Beau, we need you on the front porch now.”

“Hey, Gabby,” Colby says as he saunters closer. It’s been almost exactly eight years since I saw Colby, and little has changed about him, but as I stare at the man I once foolishly believed I loved, I can’t for the life of me figure out what I found attractive about him before.

“You need to get the hell out of here,” Charly says, her voice hard and mean. But Colby doesn’t even glance at her. He just watches me and continues talking to me.

“You look fantastic. You haven’t changed at all. Your body’s still smokin’, even after having a kid.”

“You’re such a piece of shit,” Charly growls, and suddenly, Beau is with us, coming through the front door.

“Call the police,” he instructs Charly, who steps to the side and does as Beau asks. Without taking his off of Colby, Beau turns to. His face is blank, but his whole body is tight with anger. “What the fuck are you doing here?”

“It’s nice to see you too, Beau,” Colby replies, but he’s still watching me. He’s trying to intimidate me, and eight years ago, it would have worked.

Today, he’s just pissing me off.

“There’s no need to call the police,” Colby continues. “I’m not doing anything wrong.”

“This is private property,” I reply, speaking for the first time. Thank God my voice sounds strong and unwavering, because I’m pretty sure my stomach is in my throat. My hands are shaking, so I clench them into fists. “My property. And I want you off of it.”

“Yeah, I heard you made this old place into a hotel.” He looks around and nods, as though he needs to give me his approval. “It’s real nice.”

“Cut the shit,” Beau snarls. “What the fuck do you want?”

“I want to see my kid.” Colby smiles innocently.

“You signed your rights away,” Beau replies. “You have no legal right to be here.”

“Yeah.” Colby nods thoughtfully. “I did sign that contract, but I was pretty young, and didn’t understand what I was doing. Especially with you and your bully of a father standing over me. I think I felt threatened. Coerced.” He smiles again, all innocence gone, replaced with nothing but menace.

“Bullshit,” Beau spits out between clenched teeth. “Your own lawyer was with you, you piece of shit.”

“Well, I saw a new attorney,” Colby begins and my blood runs cold. “And he seems to think that I have a case here. That I might be able to appeal and have that contract thrown out.”

“You’re out of your fucking mind,” Charly cries. “You weren’t coerced into anything. In fact, it was probably Gabby who was coerced into having sex with you.”

“Oh no, she was more than willing.” He winks at me, making my stomach roll.

I’m going to throw up.

“I’m going to kick your ass,” Beau says calmly. “Again.”

“I should have pressed charges the first time,” Colby replies. “You broke my fucking ribs.”

“You deserved worse,” Charly says. “I’d like to kick your balls into your fucking nostrils.”

“Wow, violence must run in the family.” Colby smirks. “I wouldn’t want my child to be raised in such a volatile situation. That can’t be good for him.”

“Oh, I’ll show you volatile, you slimy piece of shit.”

I can hear another car approaching, but all I can see is Colby and his cold eyes as they bore into mine.

He’s going to try to take my child from me.

It’ll be a cold day in hell before that ever happens. My family has enough money to destroy him, and Beau and Eli would do it without batting an eye.

A car door slams shut, and Charly whispers next to me, “Oh, shit.”

Now what?

I turn to my left and my gaze collides with bright green eyes.

Shit.

Chapter Nineteen

~Rhys~

I can’t reach her. Now Gabby’s phone is turned off, sending me straight to voice mail.

It pisses me the fuck off.

Chicago has been a flurry of activity since I got to town, and I just got to my hotel. I don’t know anyone else’s phone number, so I call Kate.

“What’s up, buttercup?” she asks as she answers the phone.

“I’m in Chicago,” I reply dryly.

“What?” I hear her chair creek as she sits up straight. “Why are you in Chicago?”

“I forgot about a charity thing I was signed up for and couldn’t back out, so I had to rush out of town, and Gabby wasn’t home when I left so I couldn’t explain.”

“Uh oh,” Kate mutters.

“I mean, I did text her, but now I can’t reach her.”

“What did you say in your text?”

“That I was needed in Chicago and I had to leave.”

She’s quiet for a long moment, and then she sounds exasperated as she says, “That’s it?”

“I’ve been trying to call her, Kate.”

“Idiot,” she mutters, making my jaw tick. “What do you want me to do? Do you want me to go out and see her, tell her what’s up?”

“No, that should come from me.”

“I agree.”

“I’m going to have some groveling to do, aren’t I?”