Engaging (Alluring Book 2) (28 page)

When Gage had gotten the phone call that morning, informing him that his parents were in town, then given them her address, she totally freaked.  Yes, she had met them once before, back when Gage and her had first dated, and they seemed to like her well enough, but that was before she had kept a secret grandchild from them.  She had run around the house all morning like a crazy person, cleaning and then getting herself ready, counting down the minutes until Niles and Helen Hunter would arrive.

And now, here they stood in front of her, looking anything but thrilled at having to greet her.  She swallowed with difficulty and held out her hand.  "It's nice to see you again, Mrs. Hunter."

Helen took Cassie's hand and barely shook it, before releasing it.  "It's nice to see you again, as well," she said stiffly.

"Mother," Gage growled, in warning.  "If you want to spend time with your grandson, I suggest you be nice to his mother." 

Cassie leaned in close to Gage and spoke low so only he would hear.  "Please don't."

Gage frowned down at her.  "Fuck that.  I'm not going to stand here and have someone disrespect you and not do anything about it."  This was not spoken low so as not to have anyone hear.

"Gage
–
," his father tried to interject.  He was an older version of Gage and very handsome with a light dusting of gray at the temples of his close-cropped, black hair.  He even wore an identical outfit of jeans and a black T-shirt.

Helen straightened her spine.  "I didn't disrespect her, Gage."

"She has a name Mother, it's Cassie, and if you can't be the loving and caring person that I know you are, then you can turn around and leave."

Cassie watched as Helen's shoulders sagged, and her head dropped to look at the floor.  "She kept my grandson from me for four years."  She raised her head and looked at Gage.  "How can I forgive her for that?"

"Cassie didn't keep Logan from you, I did.  If anyone's to blame, it's me."

Cassie, who had been looking down at the floor as well, popped her head up to stare at Gage.  "What?"

Gage captured her face in his hands.  "It's true.  It's my fault for walking away from you, leaving you no choice but to think I wouldn't be interested in our child."

Cassie tried to shake her head in argument, but he held it still.  So instead, she voiced her objection.  "No, Gage, your mom is right.  I should have never kept that from you."  She pulled her face from his hands and took a step away from him.  Gage put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her back to his side.

"My son is right," Niles said, sternly.

Helen whipped her head to him.  "How can you say that?"

"Because it's true.  He ended things with Cassie, and as far as she knew, he wanted nothing else to do with her."

Cassie's body got tight at his harsh words.  Feeling it, Gage held her a little tighter.

"That may be true," Helen said, directing her words at her husband, "but even if someone walks away from a relationship, it's still the other person's responsibility to share important news...
like a baby
."  She threw her hands in the air for emphasis.

Niles lowered his body to put his face closer to his wife's and with a raised voice said, "Not if said person was an asshat!"

"Mr. and Mrs. Hunter
–
," Cassie tried to interject but was cut off by Helen.

"Do not call your son an asshat.  He left on tour and had every right to break up with the girl."

Niles waved a disgusted hand at his wife then pointed a finger at Cassie.  "He's an asshat for letting this one get away.  I mean, just look at her.  Not to mention, she was sweet and smart."

Cassie felt Gage chuckle.  She looked up at him and saw a huge grin on his face.  "Aren't you going to stop them?"

He looked down at her, still grinning.  "Not while Dad's winning."

Cassie thought it best to try interjecting one more time.  "Mr. and Mrs. Hunter, please
–
"

That was as far as she got before Helen yelled, "You're the asshat."  She poked a finger at her husband's chest for emphasis.

"Momma?"

Cassie turned her head.  Logan stood in the doorway, hands covering his ears, looking as if he wanted to cry.  Helen and Niles immediately stopped bickering and turned toward the doorway as well.  Cassie went and knelt before him. 

She heard Helen whisper behind her, "Oh my, he looks just like Gage did when he was a little boy."

Cassie looked over her shoulder and gave her a small smile before turning back to Logan.  She gently pulled his hands from his ears.  "It's okay, little man, we won't be loud anymore." 

Logan looked up at Gage, placed his hands on his hips, and asked, "Daddy,
who
are these people?"

Everyone laughed.

Several hours later, Gage's mom came into the kitchen while Cassie prepared a pitcher of iced tea.  Cassie watched as Helen leaned against the counter and waited while she seemed to struggle with what she wanted to say.

"I do realize that everyone makes mistakes in life.  By no means, am I perfect nor have I done things perfectly.  For example, I reacted badly when I found out I had a grandson I didn't know about.  I blamed it all on you when the blame laid just as much with my son.  I didn't put myself in your shoes, a teenage girl, scared, abandoned, and soon to be responsible for another living being.  Thinking about it like that, I can just imagine how hard and scary those first few years must have been for you.  I was selfishly thinking only about how I was slighted."  Helen reached over and placed a hand on Cassie's arm.  "You're a good person and a wonderful mom.  Logan is bright, energetic, and most importantly, happy.  Instead of feeling angry about the four years I've missed, I should feel blessed for all the years I'll have to watch him grow."

Cassie, unsuccessfully, tried to swallow the lump that had formed in her throat.  She gave a jerky nod acknowledging Helen's words but worried if she opened her mouth to speak, a sob would erupt forth.

Helen seemed to understand her dilemma.  She patted her arm then gave it a light squeeze.  "I'm glad you and Gage reconnected.  Not just because of Logan, but because I have never seen my son so happy, and I thank you for that."

Helen left the kitchen just as she had entered it, quickly and quietly.  Cassie turned back to the iced tea, stirring it while trying to keep her tears at bay.  She was mostly successful.

The next day she was finally able to go investigate the addresses.  If she had known what would happen to her that day, she would have wished for something else to have foiled her plans.

Chapter Twenty-three

The first address on Cassie's list was in a seedy area of downtown Las Vegas.  It was also the farthest away, and she figured she would hit different addresses as she wound her way back into town.  The area went downhill fast, the closer she got to her destination.  Trash littered the streets, and advertisements for X-rated shows featuring nude women were plastered all over every available space. 

Her GPS led her to a quiet street in a tired looking neighborhood.  She parked across from the address and was disappointed to see it was a fourplex.  She sat in her car, looking around the property, noting the absence of any kind of yard.  The likelihood of the dogs being here were slim to none.  She hit a button on her GPS pulling up the next address.  Maybe she'll have better luck there.

* * * * *

Jeremy sat in his car and watched the red SUV.  He knew who it belonged to.  That nosy bitch from the animal rescue.  The bitch that took his dogs and wouldn't give them back.  The bitch that kept snooping around, making trouble for him and his boys. 

He had just gotten home and had backed into his parking space when he noticed the SUV parked across the street.  He wasn't sure how she learned were he lived, especially since he had only moved in the month before, but he didn't like it. 

She really was a pest and putting a crimp in their whole operation.  They even had to change where they held their fights after they caught her snooping around the warehouse.  Yeah, they had known she would set the cops on their asses.  Good thing they had security cameras set up that had recorded her visit.  What a clusterfuck it would have been if they hadn't gotten everything cleared out before the cops arrived.  She had caused them enough hassle just by having to move all their shit and informing everyone of their new location.  She was a menace that they needed to stop.  And he was just the person to do it.

She pulled away from the curb, and he decided to follow her.  See what the bitch was up to now and put a stop to it once and for all.

* * * * *

The next address on the list was in a slightly better, residential neighborhood.  The houses were run down and unkempt and looked as though the residents didn't care because the yards were just as unkempt.  Overgrown lawns and old discarded furniture seemed to be the theme up and down the block. 

She watched the house carefully, noticing movement in the front window.  There was no way she could get out of the car to check for dogs in the back yard.  She cracked her window, hoping to hear dogs barking, but all was quiet in the neighborhood.   

Cassie looked at the clock on her dashboard.  She had two more hours until she needed to pick up Logan.  She had time to check out one more address.

The next neighborhood was a definite step up from the last.  The houses were tract homes, so they were all similar, single and two-story houses painted in various shades of tan and brown.  She parked across from the house she sought.  It was in good repair, recently painted, and the landscaping was desert friendly, having little lawn with a beautiful rock and cactus garden. 

A UPS truck pulled up but didn't block her view of the front door.  The driver held a package and a clipboard.  Perfect, a package that needed a signature.  She was about to discover if anyone was home.  Cassie watched the driver ring the doorbell and immediately heard barking in the distance.  She rolled her window down to try and discern if the barking came from the back of the house.  It was hard to tell.

The UPS driver rang the doorbell a few times before attaching a little slip of paper to the front door, jogging back to his truck, and driving away.  No one was home.

Cassie got out of her car and looked around.  The neighborhood was mostly quiet.  About halfway down the block a group of kids played basketball in the street with one of those tall, rolling basketball hoops, and off in the distance, Cassie could hear a lawn mower running. 

She cautiously approached the house.  The front windows had sheer curtains covering them, and she detected no movement from inside.  She crept around the side of the house and immediately dogs started barking.  Bingo.  But she had to make sure they were pits and that they looked as if they had been fighting recently. 

The side gate was wooden and about her height.  She reached over, felt a latch and flipped it.  The gate swung open noiselessly.  No dogs came charging, so she assumed they were penned somewhere in the back.  She slowly made her way along the side of the house and peeked around the back corner.  A large dog run took up half the backyard and inside were about ten pit bulls. 

From this distance, it was hard to be sure, but most looked injured in some way.  The dogs were all barking so that was probably why she didn't hear the person who came up behind her, seizing her in a tight bear hug.

"You just don't know when to leave things the fuck alone, do you?"

Cassie's body got tense.  After two encounters, she knew Jeremy Beckett's voice.  Shit.  Shit.  Shit. 

He stood to full height, lifting her feet from the ground, and walked to the back door.  Her body became unfrozen and, she struggled, squirming in his grasp, her feet kicking at his shins.  "What are you doing?  Where are you taking me?"

"Shut the fuck up, bitch," he said, giving her a tight squeeze, momentarily cutting off her air.

Cassie started to panic.  She didn't want him to take her into the house.  She tried to entangle his legs with her feet, hoping to make him lose his balance and thereby drop her, but luck wasn't on her side, and they reached the back door without incident.  He kept her immobile with one arm while he opened the door with his other hand. 

"Please let me go.  I promise to stay away from now on.  You won't see me ever again."  Cassie was almost hysterical now.  Why was he taking her into the house, and what did he plan on doing with her?

"Too late, bitch.  I warned you more than once, but you just don't seem to listen.  Now I'm gonna make you listen."

He walked her into the kitchen, grabbed a fistful of hair at the back of her head, and slammed her head down, forehead first, onto the solid, wood kitchen table.  She almost passed out.  She was dazed for a moment.  He lifted her up roughly by the hair and slapped her hard across the left side of her face.  She would have fallen from the force of the blow, but he still had a secure hold on her hair.

"Please," she mumbled through numb lips.  She tasted blood in her mouth and knew her teeth cut the inside of her cheek.