Daniel points a harsh finger at me. “You bite your tongue.”
Looking at Madden in his eyes, I end with, “Or calling dad's favorite wrench just a tool.”
He looks away, but remains silent.
“Jovi is so much more than just some girl. She's...that final touch that makes my life a masterpiece. The little detail, that without it, I'm nothing more than just another prison sentence waiting to be served.”
“Go get cleaned up,” Knox instructs with a soft sigh. “I'll take care of the couch and your brothers will get started on a plan to save your life.”
“And my girl?”
“That's what I said.” She winks. “Now go.”
Madden holds a hand up to stop me. “If you were supposed to deliver a Hot Tottie, why did he say he wanted his package?”
The realization slams my ass back against the edge of the couch. “Fuck...”
“Do you have any idea where that package is in that Hot Tottie?”
Shaking my head I deny, “It didn't even register that he-”
“Sloppy,” Madden snips. “That's fucking sloppy, Merrick.”
“I-”
“Go,” he demands rubbing the top of his head. “Go get cleaned up.”
I give my family, who is ready to go to war for me, one last look. The people who are ready to risk their lives, their freedom, their safety, to save mine.
That may be what family is for, but I'm tired of putting them in this position. I'm gonna be the one to fix this. I have to be. If anyone deserves to pay with their life for this it's me.
Jovi
There's a steady thumping in my head that causes me to groan loudly.
Why would you let me get drunk with Hayli? How was that a good idea? I know couple spats are hard but...wait what do you mean I didn't get drunk with Hayli? What do you mean I dreamt that? Okay, if that was a dream then why does my head feel like I was hit by freight train?
A soft voice questions, “You okay?”
Very slowly I roll over to a sight that's unfamiliar. The young female looks like an angel waiting to receive her wings. Her dark brown hair is braided to the side of her tanned skin. Her slim figure is covered in all white clothing making her blue eyes pop even more.
Who the hell is she?
Instead of speaking I simply nod.
“Good,” she whispers in what sounds like relief. “The Devil will be in very shortly to talk to you, but he's not the first thing any person should have to see when they wake up.”
Her humor makes me smirk.
At least she seems sweet.
She extends her hand for me to shake. “I'm Melody.”
I introduce myself as well. “Jovi.”
“Ghost's girlfriend.”
My heart aches instantly. Unsure if it's from the fact he is who he is or from the fact that I'm not exactly his girlfriend any more, I don't respond.
“By your reaction, I take it you had no idea what he did for a living.” She helps me sit up against the pillows, my entire body burning with an unfamiliar pain. “If it helps, he was trying to get out of this to be with you.”
I open my mouth to ask for more information, but shut it as soon as the door opens revealing a face that looks like it's come to sell me a new car or a new fridge.
Salesman look very similar despite what they're selling.
“Ahhh...” the male coos out and adjusts his tie. “You're finally awake.” With a wave of his wrist he says, “Melody get her breakfast now.”
“Yes sir,” she replies and slips out the door as he shuts it.
Once it's just the two of us he folds his arms across his chest and gives me a hard look. “Comfortable?”
Probably as comfortable as I'm going to get in a strange room with strange people. How did I get here? Why can't I remember a goddamn thing?
“I should probably start at the beginning.” His hands drop to slide into his pockets. “I'm the one who had you kidnapped.”
Kidnapped?! I've been kidnapped!
“Ghost...you know him best as Merrick McCoy, and I had a deal. I would let him free of my services to run off into the sunset with you if he did one final job for me. My money was on him dying during the job, but when he didn't I got very excited that something I wanted very fucking badly was going to be on my door step soon. Problem is...he got spotted. Now I have no package. I'm not a happy man. Or a patient one.”
Or forgiving if kidnapping me was how he dealt with that...
“Kidnapping you was not part of the plan, but I needed his attention.”
The door creeks back open and Melody strolls in with a tray full of breakfast food.
“Now, just so we're clear Jovi Carter, I am well aware of who you are and more importantly who your father is. I have no plans to keep you here longer than necessary and no plans to kill you.”
That's a relief.
“That is unless of course I have to.” With a vindictive smile he leans forward. “That would be just such a shame.”
This man is fucking crazy.
“Nothing to worry about I'm sure. Merrick only came to me to get out of this to be with you, so I can guarantee he will do everything in his power to get you back. In the meantime, you're going to spend a lot of time napping, so I hope you find the bed comfortable.”
Melody places the tray in my lap and whispers, “Have the orange juice. I know you're thirsty.”
Very cautiously I lift the glass and ask the man, “Who are you?”
With a smile that could send shivers down even the most notorious criminals' spine, he announces, “I'm The Devil. And this, Jovi, is my hell. Welcome.”
Merrick
How do you measure time? I mean really measure it. Do you measure it by the work week? The next time you get paid? Do you measure it by doctor appointments and grocery trips? The school calendar or holidays? Do you measure it in trips to the gas station or canceled dates with your boyfriend? Maybe you measure it in smiles captured and memories missed. In moments you felt fucking alive...that's what I do. And right now, time has ceased to exist. God, I need Jovi.
“That's a terrible fucking idea,” Drew argues with Madden at the bar while Knoxie stands in the kitchen across from them nibbling on a burger.
She went and got Madden's favorite as soon as it opened this morning, but he hasn't had a bite. I haven't either. I have a feeling it's for similar reasons.
“Then you fucking think of something!” Madden yells tossing his hands in the air.
From the kitchen table, across from Destin, I chime in, “Maybe we should tell the Commissioner. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad if he found out. Maybe-”
“This isn't some shitty B-class action movie where they're gonna turn you into a snitch and let you drive away into the sunset, Merrick. This is real life. This is the point where if he finds out who are you it's jail. Then the pen. And most likely your body found in the yard, the same way dad's was.” Madden's cold description sinks me into my seat.
The air in the room stiffens so tight I'm not sure I want to breathe. Shutting my eyes closed I hit the back of my head against the wall, Jovi's heart-broken face haunting me instantly.
If she didn't hate me before there's no fucking way she doesn't now. How the hell am I supposed to live with that look of pure hatred for the rest of my life? It wasn't hatred? Then what was that? It damn sure wasn't sadness. I've seen that. That was the look they wore at Ben's funeral. The look I saw was something so much worse, I feel like I should be looking for a line in Romeo and Juliet.