I’m Yours, Baby(25)

“Take Carter, go to our room and stay there until I come and get you, okay? No one but me.”

She hesitated, trying to peek around me. “Aspen, I know I’m on shaky ground with you, but I need you to trust me. More than ever. Can you please do this for me?”

Her eyes were big and round as she stared into mine, then she nodded and hurried away. I took a deep breath and faced the situation outside. Kat was still creeping closer and hadn’t seemed to take stock of the situation yet. I put the phone to my ear and whispered, “Justice, you better get your people here ASAP before I kill her.” Then I hung up and looked down at my baby sister.

“Jenna, why don’t you come inside—”

“I think she should stay right there.” Kat stepped out of the shadows looking smug, as if she thought I hadn’t seen her until that moment.

“She’s going to take care of our baby like a good aunt, while I get rid of that whore who had our little Weston Jr. She just couldn’t leave you alone, could she?” Kat finally met my eyes, her own dilated and wild. Shit. This woman had lost her fucking mind. “Message after fucking message! She wouldn’t SHUT UP!” Kat screamed and her left hand shook, her finger vibrating precariously close to the trigger of her gun.

“Kat,” I said soothingly. “Let Jenna take Carter inside or home with her, so you and I can talk.”

She glanced back and forth between us, then gestured to the house with the gun. “Okay. It was nice to finally meet you, Jenna.” Kat’s voice had turned saccharine and it was grating on my raw nerves. “Take baby Wes inside, but don’t let that bitch near him.”

I clenched my hands, trying to stay calm, and stepped outside to allow Jenna to get by. Once she was inside, I slammed the door shut and squared off with Kat. “What the fuck do you want, Kat?”

“You,” she said, her eyes blinking innocently, as if she couldn’t understand my confusion. “Just let me handle that woman. You won’t have to do a thing, my love. I’ll tell her to leave, that we’re a family and she shouldn’t get in our way. Then we can be together, you, me, and our little Wes.”

It took a great deal of effort to hold back any reaction. I wanted to roll my eyes and I wanted to strangle her. I’m not sure which desire would have won out. In my peripheral, I spied a patrol car slowly creeping up my driveway. It stopped a good distance away and two officers stepped out as quietly as possible.

Kat was still chatting incessantly, but I wasn’t paying much attention.

“Although, if we really want to be able to move on, I should kill them both.”

The next moment, Kat was slammed up against the front door, her feet dangling from the ground, as I held her up by the neck. I tore the gun from her hand and tossed it away. “What did you say?” I asked venomously.

Fear clouded her eyes as she clawed at my immobile hand, her feet kicking, and her face turning a satisfying shade of purple.

“Mr. Davis.”

Someone was speaking to me. It was probing at the shell of rage built around me.

“Mr. Davis, you need to let her go. I don’t want to be forced to arrest you.”

My grip tightened as Kat’s comment about killing my family played on repeat in my mind.

“Weston!” A different voice poked a tiny hole in the shell. “You and I both know she deserves it, but you’ve got to let us handle it.”

My fingers loosened slightly.

“We’ll take it from here, officers. Yes, we’re taking over the investigation. Sure, you call your boss, and tell him to relay to the commissioner that Alex Shaw said he owes me a hundred bucks from last week’s poker game.”

A hand landed heavily on my arm and I unclenched some more.

“You know I’ll handle it, Weston. Trust me.”

Trust me.

I’d said that to Aspen.

Aspen.

I pulled my arm back so fast, Kat dropped like a dead weight to the ground. My eyes met Alex’s and he nodded. “I’ll take care of it, you go take care of your family.”

I nodded, and he slapped me on the back as I opened the door and stepped over Kat’s motionless body.

***

“Are you sure you’ll be all right, Jenna?” I asked her softly as we stood at the front door. “You can stay here, you know.”

She shook her head and wrapped her arms around me. “Thanks, big brother. But, I’ve got my own strapping hunk to take care of me.”

I winced. “Seriously, Jenna? If you don’t want me to beat the shit out of your fiancé for defiling my little sister, stop reminding me of it.”

She laughed, and I was relieved to see some sparkle in her eyes. I returned her hug and finally let her go, watching until she was in her car and it was out of sight.