Guarding Forever

“Yes, ma’am. I’ve got to do everything around here. Gosh!” Gage exclaimed, pretending to be overburdened.

She narrowed her eyes and pursed her lips. “Whine, whine, whine.” She grabbed the baby’s pacifier that was clipped to the baby’s bodysuit and tossed it at Gage. “Here. I think you need it more than he does.”

He growled and then cracked up laughing. Sticking the pacifier on the desk, Gage started to work on the ad copy. “Qualification number one—female. No more men in my house,” he muttered as he typed.

Chapter 8

Cummings’s body ached to hell. A month after his stint in the hospital, he still felt the pain daily. He’d popped another round of pills, but they weren’t strong enough to take the edge off anymore. The hospital refused to give him a stronger dose so he wouldn’t turn into a user. Cummings laughed in their faces because he knew that he was stronger than those weak-minded people.

A knock at his door pulled him from his thoughts of getting revenge. He opened it to find his lawyer on the other side.

“We have good news.” Cummings let him in and closed the door behind him. When he turned around, Dallas tossed Cummings a small bottle of pills. He smiled and walked over to his glass of vodka and took two of them.

“Yes, and?” A wicked grin crossed the evil bastard’s face as he waited for confirmation.

“It will all be ready tomorrow.”

“Good. Very good.” He took a seat in his less-than-plush chair and smiled. Cummings hated that he was living in unacceptable conditions, but that would be over very soon.

Almost everything had gone according to plan over the past few months after he’d been released on bail. He’d played his cards smoothly, and now he already had someone else who wanted his treacherous daughter and her bastard husband dead. He’d hated them both beyond belief, but he couldn’t let on that he did until he could strike at the right moment.

The damn plan had been botched when it came to placing the blame on Perkins for letting the bull out. The one-ton bastard was less than cooperative and had been the reason Cummings ended up in the hospital. It worked for the email, but with the reroute set up, he didn’t need to be stomped on.

“I want you to take out the pole, then we can let out that fucker and plant him on Perkin’s property.”

“Easy.” The marksman’s hit split the wooden post with his long-range rifle. It fell, and then they moved into position. They’d brought the rope to wrangle the bull out, but they hadn’t expected him to be so difficult to rustle up. He broke through the rope and then trampled Cummings until the other two pulled him away. They got him on the back of the pickup truck.

“Don’t take him to the hospital. Take him to his apartment and mess it up. Make it look like he was beaten.”

“Yes, that’s a smart idea.”

“Damn, he looks bad. We better hurry.”

“Find that bull. Kill it. Dump it,” Cummings demanded before passing out. They left him at his place and did that before coming back and calling the cops.

That was the last thing he remembered since he’d passed out. They called the doctor from the clinic to help him and then they dealt with the bull, dragging it onto the nearest property.

Taking a deep breath that sent a wave of pain through him, Cummings had been lucky no one noticed the damage. Many equated it to being beaten with a baseball bat like his men said when they called the attack in.

“I say we should celebrate with a toast.” They had a lot to celebrate. By tomorrow, many of Cummings’s problems would be over with. Then it was just a matter of time before he could finish what he started. Revenge would be sweeter than anything he’d known. Little Johnny’s death would destroy Gage and Hope. Cummings couldn’t wait.

“Sounds wonderful. Do you have any scotch?”

“Why, yes, I do.” Cummings pulled out two tumblers and poured them both a drink. With a clink of their glasses, they began their celebration.

Sitting in his office, Gage took a long pause after hearing the news Dax shared. “What the fuck do you mean the charges have been dropped?” Their relationship had improved when Gage realized that Dax’s hands were tied by the law. He’d been there before.

“Well, unfortunately, all the tapes are missing.” Gage jumped out of his seat. If Dax had been standing in front of him, Gage wasn’t sure if he’d still be standing. Gage felt a new sense of rage and betrayal that was so damn profound that no one stood a chance in a fight with him. The one person who had a major grudge, who should have been locked away for life, just got a get-out-of-jail-free card.