Redeem Me (Say Something Book 4) (4 page)

Chapter Eight

“What did he say?” I ask as soon as I walk through the front door.

Marshall and Trevor are both sitting at the kitchen table leaning over the papers. When I walk to the table I can see the lawyer made notes on the sides of the letter and also the notes that the lawyer wrote on another piece of paper.

Joslynn walks in behind me.

“Hey, wait on me. I am going to lay him down.” She nods her head towards lil man.

I lean in and kiss his head.

“Go ahead.”

I walk to the table and sit down beside Trevor. Neither of them look towards me when I sit down.  Joslynn walks back in the room and sits down.

“One of you needs to start talking!” She pushes Marshall and causes him to finally turn his attention to her.

They both start yelling at the same time.

“HEY ONE AT A TIME!” I yell.

Both of them stop talking and look between Joslynn and me.

“The lawyer said there is no way Kipper can send anything from jail. And if he had sent something, it would be marked showing he sent it. The letter had to be from someone on his crew. Without the papers agreeing on the quote they gave or proof of nonpayment or payment there is nothing either of us can do. You don’t have to pay the money but they also don’t have to stop doing everything they can to have Sunshine’s closed,” Marshall comments.

“Well that is good news. But how did they get certified papers?” Joslynn asks.

“They are not real.” Trevor slides the papers in front of Joslynn and me and starts pointing out various things that makes them fake. Why would they go through this much trouble to get Sunshine’s closed?

I didn’t do anything to any of them, so they have nothing to be that mad about.

“So if that is the case then why are you both so pissed?”

“If they went to this great length to try to close down the place what else are they going to do when they see that did no good?”

“I am not closing, guys,” I say shaking my head.

I can see the wheels turning and I know what they are thinking: they want me to close until all of this is over. If I close then a part of them wins and even if I open later they win and I am not willing to let that happen – I refuse to let that happen.

“Taylor, I am not putting you in danger. Anger makes people do stupid things. I am not letting anything happen to you.”

“Trevor, listen to what I am telling you, all of you. I am not closing my restaurant! I refuse! If they want to come in and try to take it from me then let them. It’s not happening. PERIOD!”

I slam my hands on the table and walk towards my room and slam the door behind me. I know I might have overreacted but this is mine, this is something I worked my ass off for. Something that someone is trying to take away from me and that is not okay.

Joslynn peeks her head in the door and waits until I nod before she comes in.

“What are we going to do?” she asks walking to the bed and sitting down.

“We are going to continue doing what we do. They are not going to win!”

“You know they don’t like the idea that we won’t back down,” she says and laughs.

“Yeah well they married some pretty stubborn women.”

“That they did. Let me see the new ink.”

I look down to my hand and take off the wrap and hold my fingers up proudly. This is the first time since I got it done that I have taken the time to look at it.

“I think it’s about time you get something.”

“I have to agree. Well we are going to head out. I’ll see you in the morning.”

“Love you, Jos.”

“Love you, Tay. I’m proud of you.”

She leans in and wraps her arms around me. Joslynn has been my best friend for years and I love that she sees things the same way I do. She has been there for me through everything and I the same for her. If Kipper’s gooneys want to come after me then a fake letter of payment isn’t going to work. 

I slide my clothes off and throw them on the floor and crawl under the covers. It feels like it’s been nothing but wrench after wrench thrown in my face and instead of pushing me down it’s doing nothing but pissing me off.

Trevor walks in the room and shuts the door behind him. He looks around the room at my clothes thrown all over the place. My thong is on the floor in front of the door. My shorts are on the mirror on the dresser, and my shirt is on one of the posts of the bed. Trevor’s eyes travel the room and then land back on me. His eyes fill with a longing that I can only describe as his sex look. He licks his lips like earlier and walks towards me.

I so badly want to tell him no and have him be mad but the look on his face tells me he is going to have me begging him not to stop and I want to beg him. He stops at his side of the bed and starts to take his clothes off his eyes never leaving mine.

Once he has all his clothes off he crawls on to the bed and grabs the covers from the bottom and jerks them leaving me naked and bare for him to look at. He grabs my ankles and jerks them apart pulling me towards him. He pulls my legs behind him on each side and grabs my thighs lifting me up and buries his face in me. He is not his normal gentle self as he pulls my clit in his mouth and lets it go with a loud pop. He slides a finger inside me and starts moving it in and out. The combination of his finger and his tongue is almost too much.

“Bab…close…please.”

He drops my hips and climbs on top of me and slides inside me. His hands grab my hips and he holds them where he wants them when I try to move. His eyes once again lock with mine and his pace is fast. I wrap my legs around him and ball the sheets in my fist. His hands tighten on my hips.

“You feel so good.” He moans.

He leans in and kisses my neck running his teeth across my skin. I tighten my legs and can feel his smile against my skin. He knows it’s close because he slows down to an almost stop and leans back pulling my legs from around him. He slides out and I almost want to scream at him.

“On your stomach, Taylor.”

I flip on my stomach and he leans over top of me and slides inside me.

“This is mine. Say it.”

“Yours… Please don’t stop.”

He leans back and picks up the same pace as before. And it doesn’t take long before I scream his name so loud I know I will be hoarse tomorrow. He slides out of me and lays down turning on his side and leaning up on his arms.

“I love you.”

“I love you.”

“I know you are not walking away from Sunshine’s and I love that you won’t walk away and give up. I would never try to take your decisions away from you. I just want you to be safe.”

“I know.”

“Then why are you mad? Even now?”

“I am sick of it all, Trevor. Of crazy alcoholic dads and crazy ass men from school and whatever else life has to throw in our way. I want to run my restaurant and have kids and be fucking happy!”

“Listen to me. We can’t help what life throws at us, what we can help is how we let it affect us.”

I curl up under his arm and lay my hand on his chest. He wraps his arm tightly around me and sighs.

“We have been through a lot since we met, Taylor Andrews, and all it’s done is make us stronger. Any time that you feel like life is too hard or nothing is going right I want you to look at that tattoo on your ring finger and know that no matter what I am here and I will protect you from anything and anyone.”

His words give me comfort and I smile. If anything that life has done to me was worth anything it was when it threw Trevor in my path.

Chapter Nine

“Good morning, my child.”

“Good morning, Janet. How are you?”

“Good how are you feeling? Joslynn said you left early because you were sick.”

“I am feeling a lot better thank you for asking.”

“Good, good.”

I lean in, kiss Janet’s cheek and then make my way to the counter and grab my apron. I feel like I am going through what Joslynn had to not so long ago knowing that Marshall and Trevor both will be coming in and out of Sunshine’s today to check in. Trevor swore to me that if he texted and I didn’t answer he would come and make a scene.

I put my phone on vibrate and slide it in to my pocket and get ready for the day. The morning rush wastes no time in hitting full force. I walk to a table on my side and stop short as soon as I see the man from the day before sitting by himself.

“What can I get you to drink?”

“Coffee.”

“I’ll be right back with that.”

When I bring his coffee back he smiles and says his thanks.

“May I talk to you for a second?”

I look around Sunshine’s everyone seems to be doing good so I take a deep breath and sit down.

“I have to hurry.”

“It won’t take long. I wanted to talk to you while I was away from my boss.”

“Okay.”

He looks around us like he is looking for someone before he looks back to me.

“Did he really try to kill you?”

“He did.”

I make no notion to try to hide what happened, maybe he can tell me something that will help.

“When we were working here he talked about how much you pissed him off because you walked around here with your head held high like everyone owed you something.”

“I didn’t go looking for him, John. He came here and when he told me his price I told him no. He is the one who came back here looking for me and said he would do it for free meals.”

“Think about what you’re saying, Taylor. Say it out loud again.”

I sit back in the seat and play my words over again in my head and my heart stops. Who remodels a whole building for free meals?

“How much did he tell you he was getting paid?”

“Thirty thousand dollars.”

“And when the job was done and no money came?”

“He made it sound like you skipped out on paying us. He said you said you didn’t have it right now. That is when he started talking about hurting you. He said he was going to catch you alone and demand you pay us or he’d beat your ass. None of us believed him. He always talked big while we were working like you and he had a thing in school and Trevor was just a phase.”

“And none of you wanted to tell me? Or the police? He killed my kid. He tried to kill me.”

“I feel bad about that every day, Taylor. Every day I feel like it was all my fault. Like I could have done something to stop it.”

“You can help me now.”

He looks at me confused and takes a shaky sip of his coffee. I feel bad playing on his guilt for what he didn’t do but I want this to end and if he can help me I will play on anything I can find.

“How?”

“Someone sent a fake lawyer here with papers saying if we didn’t pay they would have Sunshine’s shut down.”

“We were all pissed we didn’t get paid. Some of the other guys even offered to help Kipper hurt you if you didn’t pay. They are dangerous, Taylor.”

“Tell me something I don’t know. Can you help me?”

“Tables are getting behind, my child,” Janet says as she walks past our table.

I look around the restaurant and slide out of the chair.

“If you have any more questions you have my number just call.”

“Thanks.”

I walk away from the conversation and feel like I know nothing more now than what I knew before besides the fact that others didn’t know the deal between Kipper and me other than who I told and Kipper. He lied to them all and they worked their asses off thinking their first job was going to be a big one.

My phone vibrates and I slide it out of my pocket.

Hubby:
Check in Sunshine

Me:
I am fine.

Hubby:
I love you

Me:
I love you more, talk when I get home we are swamped.

I slide my phone back in my pocket and catch up on all the tables I had been letting slide. When I finally catch up Joslynn stops me behind the counter.

“Who were you talking to?”

“A guy who worked on Kipper’s crew.”

Her eyes grow wide and her hand covers her mouth.

“What did he say?”

“Kipper lied, Jos. He didn’t tell anyone we weren’t paying in money. They all thought they were getting a big cash out. He said when they didn’t he started acting mad and blamed it on me saying I refused to pay. He said Kipper was going to hurt me and take the money.”

“Why was he talking to you?” she asks and nods her head towards the door.

“He said he left right after the job was done and the threats started.”

“Have you told Trevor?”

“I plan to. Jos, he said others joined in on the threats. That’s why I got the fake papers.”

“Alright. Calm down it’s almost time to close. Just make it through the day and we can meet up at our house and talk.”

I nod my head and walk away. How is it the one thing I am fighting for is getting in the way of finding out what I need to know. If I had more time I might know who was doing all of this.