Chapter 35: Chapter 13: A Secret

NATE

“Mandy, we are about to go deal with your ex-boyfriend, Craig. You will see me at my worst today, doing something that needs to be done, but it won’t be one of my proudest moments.

“I will scream and yell, but I have to be this way so people know I am not a pushover. Please don’t be scared.”

“I know. I am so ready for this also. I have done a lot of thinking about everything that is going on and what has gone on. I am just glad that I can see out of both my eyes today.”

“Me too, baby. I’m so glad the swelling didn’t last that long. I love looking into your eyes so much. ”

She snuggles into my side while we ride in the SUV the rest of the way to the old building. When we pull up, I get into my hard-ass mode as we slowly exit the car.

I adjust my suit and turn around to help her out of the car as she looks up at me. I give a small smirk, kissing her head when I take her hand into mine. She and I walked directly to the elevator to go downstairs.

When it dings and the doors open, we go in and get out on the basement floor. We walk down the hallway to the door at the end. I turn to Mandy and explain to her what is happening.

“Mandy, even though he has been down here, he has gotten food and has been able to use the restroom and such. I can be an asshole but we do have morals.”

That’s when it hits me like a ton of bricks. I can’t help but think that this is how my dad felt all those years ago.

Carlos opens the door and I flip on the light to see Craig tied to a chair in the middle of the room. I pull up a chair and sit down, and have Mandy sit on my lap.

“So, Craig, I told you that I was not the person to piss off. You should have taken my advice, but you didn’t. Instead, you decided to beat the shit out of my girl here. That was a very bad move, Craig.”

“Fuck you, man. She’s my girlfriend and needs to learn to keep her mouth shut.”

“See, Craig, that’s where you’re wrong. She ~was~ your girlfriend. She is now mine, so you are going to sit here and listen to her.”

“I am not going to sit here and listen to this bitch. She has nothing—”

Before he can finish, I motion to Kyle and he hits him upside his head with the butt of his gun, shutting him up instantly. I feel Mandy flinch in my lap and slowly rub her back to calm her down.

“You are going to fucking listen to what she has to say! Mandy, go ahead, baby.”

She nods and turns a little so she is looking straight at him. I see her take a deep breath and I think, ~It’s now or never~. Nothing could have prepared us for what she was about to spill.

“Craig, I absolutely hate you. You are the lowest piece of trash there is. I did nothing but try and love you, but all I got was your fist. You beat me, you raped me, and you would purposely starve me because I was too fat.”

She stands up and starts screaming at his face with all the anger she has built up. I can see him flinch when she yells and think, ~This badass pussy is flinching now?~

“You would let your friends manhandle me and would laugh when I cried. You would let them touch me and laugh when I cried. You let them rape me and you watched, laughing, while I begged you to make it stop.

“You did nothing but break me for fun. Luckily for me, I won’t ever have to see you, hear you, or deal with you ever again.

“Thank God my child will never experience an asshole for a father either. The craziest part is to think you did all of this while I’m pregnant.”

I look at my boys, wide-eyed, and we are stunned at what she has revealed. What the actual fuck, man. This guy is scum—pure scum. No way is he leaving this room.

We couldn’t help but snicker when the pregnant shit got his attention.

His head whipped up so fast, saying, “Your child? You’re pregnant? You fucking bitch. You are pregnant with my child and have the audacity to call it your child. If I get out of here, I will take my child, and you will never see it.”

“See, that’s where you are wrong, Craig,” I say. “You will never see ~my~ child. You will not be leaving this room alive. You see, I am not a person you ever want to mess with. Since you apparently don’t know, I am Nate Maxwell of Maxwell Industries.”

As I stand up, I see the blood drain from his face. Oh, see…now it has finally clicked in his head exactly who I am.

“That child is mine and will bear ~my~ name. That baby will be a Maxwell and will never know what scum their father was.”

“You son of a bitch, that will never be your kid. You are nothing but trash. Looking to stick their dick in any pussy they can,” Craig says.

I reach over to my holster, taking out my gun but before I can react, I hear a gunshot ring out and see Craig’s body slump forward.

I look at my guys and see Carlos standing there with a shit-eating grin. I don’t see either of them holding a gun. So who shot?

I see Mandy step forward with a gun and scream in Craig’s ear, “Fuck you, Craig! You don’t know shit!”

I just stand in shock then I put my gun back since I don’t need it now. I see Mandy hand Carlos his gun and walk out the door. I quickly go after her and find her in the hallway, shaking like a leaf.

I quickly wrap her in my arms and let her scream and cry. What she has been through is beyond what we ever could have ever imagined. How she is still sane is beyond me.

I just hold her while she lets out all the emotions until she is whimpering in my arms. I pick her up as she wraps her arms around my neck and her legs around my waist.

I take her to the elevator and go straight up to the apartment. When we enter, I walk her up the stairs to the second floor master bedroom and lay her on the bed. I strip off my jacket and holsters and climb in next to her.

I let her cry it all out till she falls asleep in my arms. I slowly sneak back out and go downstairs. My guys are there with the jeweler. I walk over and grab some whiskey and pour some for all of us.

“I brought every necklace I had with a double heart for you to look at. Is this a good time? It seems like everyone is a little on edge right now.”

“Everything is okay. It will take us a moment to talk about it, but we will do it after I deal with this.”

I look inside his case and instantly see the one I want to get her. It’s a diamond heart outline with a little diamond heart inside. It’s absolutely perfect! I point to it and he puts it in a case for me as my guys hand him my card. He quickly takes his payment and leaves.

We sit down with our drinks and just sit for a while, trying to understand what happened downstairs.

“What the actual fuck, man! He had his friends fucking her? What kind of shit is that!” Carlos exclaims.

“Carlos, I don’t know. I am as blown away as you,” I reply. “This is a lot to process. How would he even know it’s his if he’s letting his friends fuck her? You know what—fuck it! It doesn’t matter. She is mine! That baby is going to have the Maxwell name also.”

I quickly refill my glass then I head back upstairs with the necklace. She is still asleep, so I just sit on the edge of the bed trying to process what she said. I slam down the whiskey, set the glass and the necklace on the side table, and hang my head in my hands.

This is just a lot to process. The trust she had to have and how he broke her down. The fear and the trauma she endured to get her to the point of shooting him. I am sitting there when I feel her stir behind me and arms slowly wrap around my neck.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you everything. I was so scared.”

I reach around, grabbing her, and bringing her to sit on my lap. I just bury my face into her neck.

“Mandy, I don’t care. You needed to have an outlet for all your anger and pain, and I’m glad you did. I am glad you got it out. I do want you to start training to protect yourself, though, okay? I did get you a little something.”

I reach around her for the necklace, placing it on her lap. She looks at me, wide-eyed, and back at the case. She slowly opens it and gasps, with her hand covering her mouth. She looks back at me and I just smile.

“A beautiful necklace for my gorgeous queen!” I slowly take the necklace out and place it on her neck. I’m staring at her when my phone starts to ring. I see it’s Jessie and pick up.

“What’s up, Jessie?”

“He grabbed her, man! He fucking grabbed her and he choked her! She has bruises on her arm and neck.”

“He what? I’m loading up Mandy and the guys and heading to the estate. I will send a text to get a group together.”

I hang up the phone and turn back to Mandy. “Mandy, baby, we got to go back to the estate.”

I throw on my holsters and jacket and we exit the room. I yell for Carlos and Kyle. They scramble to their feet and quickly follow us down to the parking lot. They don’t know why I’m marching out but can assume it isn’t good.

We go down in the elevator to the parking lot and head to the SUV. We jump in, Kyle punches the gas pedal, and we go speeding out.

“Why are we rushing to the estate?” Carlos asks.

“Ricardo grabbed my sister and choked her at school,” I reply.

The eruption of language coming from everyone in the car is reassuring that they all love my baby sister. Mandy grabs my arm in shock.

“How old is she, and who is Ricardo?”

“My sister is fifteen, and Ricardo is the son of Rico Ortiz who my mom shot when he kidnapped her. When she did that, my dad took over his empire.

“Ricardo now is almost eighteen and wants it back. In order to do that, he needs to be able to get in. How better than to go through my sister.”

We drive quickly and when we arrive, we pull into the estate gate and get waved through. We drive up to the front parking area, and after we exit the SUV, I meet with Jesus and tell him to go find my mom and dad and get everything this fucker has given my sister.

I send Mandy inside with Jesus while we wait for my sister to show up. I am taking my dad, Tank, and Frankie to deal with this shit. My guys will be on standby in case things go south.

When Jocelyn gets home and we see the bruises for ourselves, we decide that we need to pay this fucker a visit. I have two teams load up into SUVs and my dad, Tank, Frankie, and I get into a third.

We know where Ricardo and his mother live since we have been keeping tabs on them through the years. As we drive, we make sure our guns are loaded and ready to go if we need to pull them out.

It doesn’t take long to get there and when we pull up to the driveway we are waved in and see a few guys by the doorway with guns. My dad and I get out, backed by Frankie and Tank, and walk toward the front door.

I pound on the door like the fucking FBI, and Veronica, Ricardo’s mom, answers.

“Can I help you?”

“Where the fuck is your son?”

“Caden, Nate, is this really necessary? We are no match. I’m sure you have teams waiting.”

“Get your fucking son out here now, Veronica!”

“I’m right here, asshole.”

He steps forward and his mom tries to grab his arm. He shakes her off, telling her to shut the door.

“Cardo, why are they here? What did you do?”

I shove the jewelry and his other gifts back at him.

“I will tell you what he did! He fucking grabbed my sister and choked her, leaving bruises. I will tell you this one time and only one time, Ricardo. Do not come near my sister or you will not be coming back home. I fucking guarantee it!

“Do anything and you will bring everything I have down upon your home. It goes for your mother too!”

Ricardo steps up to stand right in front of my face. This guy obviously has a death wish. I see his mom trying to grab him. At least one of them seems sensible.

“You come to my house and threaten me? You have a problem with me—fine. Leave my mom out of it. I will have your sister, mark my words. I will get her. You cannot hide her because I will find her!

“You might also want to watch out for Mandy. She looks like a nice piece of ass also.”

I tense up and my dad quickly grabs me in a bear hug, holding me back.

“Get the fuck off my property!” Ricardo yells.

We slowly back up. My dad is telling me to shut it down, and I can hear Ricardo’s mom yelling at him, “You put your hands on her? What the fuck, Cardo!”

“I lost my temper! I fucking apologized.”

We turn to the SUV and we jump in and leave, going down the driveway. I am ready to lose my shit. My dad is trying to calm me down in the back seat.

“We gotta move Jocelyn. Let’s move her to the apartment. Jessie can be there with you to keep Mandy and her safe. Jocelyn can do homeschool to finish the year.”

“Okay, but Dad, Jessie and her are getting closer, and this won’t help.”

“Nate, I know. I’m not thrilled, believe me. Jessie looks at Jocelyn like I look at your mom. Frankie told me how he reacted, and I have been there before. I know that he will respect her, and she won’t take any risks. Your mother will chat with her.”

I see my dad pick up his phone and fill my mom in on what is going to happen.

I swear…Jessie better not screw this up.