Club Thrive: Predator Read online

  “Wow, I mean…I figured it would be coming soon, but I had no idea they were ready and just waiting on me.” She chuckles to herself. “I’m so lucky to have such an amazing family.”

  Sky hugs her. “And now your family has grown.”

  “We’ll talk to your sister tomorrow and start moving your things this week.”

  “Thanks.” She gives me a kiss.

  “No, thank you. You just made me a very happy man.” I put my arm around her waist and pull her close. I have no intentions of letting her go.

  Chapter 15

  Shelly

  I can’t believe Brea and I are moving today. We had a long chat on the phone the other night about getting together with them for dinner once a week because I don’t want us to stop being close just because we’re no longer living together. She’s going to move in with Eric and I with Mikey. It’s silly for us to both pay rent, and with Eli out of jail and making threats, we both need to watch our backs.

  “Baby, are you keeping this or donating it?” Mikey holds up a small lamp.

  “Donating it. We have no need for it. The only stuff I really want to keep are memories and Ryker’s toys. I’m only going to bring my personal stuff.”

  He nods and walks out of the room to put it in the donate pile. There’s a truck coming to pick up all the stuff we are donating, which is just about everything. When I walk out of the room with a box of my clothes and personal things, I pause to look around. Today is a bittersweet day for me. I worked really hard to accomplish what I have in this tiny apartment, and together my sister and I accomplished a lot. Now I’m just giving it all away. I exhale a deep breath as I look around. Suddenly there’s a knock at the door. Since I’m expecting the movers, I rush over to answer it but it’s not them. “Can I help you?”

  “Yes, I’m looking for Shelly Lawson.”

  My brows shoot up. “That’s me.”

  The tall blonde woman with a no nonsense look on her face hands me an envelope and says, “You’ve been served.” She says nothing more, just walks away and starts back down the stairs.

  With trembling hands, I open the envelope to see I’ve been served with court papers to discuss a visitation arrangement with my ex, who by the way, doesn’t pay me child support because we ran and he was in jail.

  Mikey is right by my side. “What is it, baby?” But I don’t respond. I just stare at the paper that says I have to appear in court in two weeks. He takes the paper from my hands and reads it over.

  He walks to the table, pulls his phone from his clip, and dials a number. “Yeah, Jerry? It’s Mikey. I need a favor.” He pauses and begins explaining to the person on the phone that I’ve been served with papers for court and I need representation. He pauses, listening to the guy on the other line, and then tells him that he’s not home at the moment but will be tonight.

  Brea and Eric come walking in as Mikey hangs up. “My lawyer is going to represent you in court. He’s going to meet us at our place after dinner tonight so we can fill him in on everything.”

  “Wait—why does my sister need a lawyer?” Brea looks at me, concerned.

  “Because my ex just served me with papers for court.” I take the paper from Mikey and hand it over so she and Eric can see it.

  “This is ridiculous. There’s no way they can give him visitation rights.” She slams her fist down, outraged that he’s attempting this.

  “Brea, please calm down. I’m as upset as you are, but Ryker doesn’t need to hear this.”

  She exhales a deep breath. “You’re right, I’m sorry.” She shakes her head. “What’s the plan?”

  “The plan is to get you girls out of here. We’ll meet with the lawyer tonight and see what can be done. I’m hoping with his record we can beat this. I’ll also see if my lawyer can maybe scare him with the threat of child support. Most guys in his situation can’t pay child support or they don’t want to. That may be enough to get him to leave us alone.”

  “I doubt it. You didn’t see him. He looked determined when he saw us at the park.”

  “Either way, we can’t do anything until we meet with the lawyer, so let’s finish this up and we’ll see what he says tonight.” I nod my agreement and move to Ryker’s room. He’s been sitting on his bed watching a movie, and I’m hoping it was enough of a distraction that he didn’t hear what we were discussing.

  “What are you doing, Mommy?” Ryker asks, without looking away from the video.

  “Packing your room up so we can go to Mikey’s. Do you want to help?” He nods his head and jumps off the bed. He starts picking up toys and putting them in the box. Some of his things are already over there and he doesn’t have much, so it shouldn’t take us long. He puts a truck in the box and looks up at me with a small smile. “Ryker, can Mommy ask you a question?” He nods. “Are you happy we’re moving in with Mikey?”

  He gives me a small smile. “I like Mikey, Mommy. He’s nice to us.”

  I give my son a warm smile. “That he is, and I’m glad you’re happy, because Mommy is happy too.”

  He looks over my shoulder and says, “Mikey, are you happy?” His voice is so sincere, I know he truly cares if Mikey is happy with us moving in with him.

  Mikey walks in and takes a seat next to him on the bed. “I’m beyond happy. I’m thrilled. You and your mom make me so very happy.” Mikey ruffles his curly hair. Ryker giggles. “Let’s help your mom get the rest of your stuff together and we can get out of here.”

  By the time we’re done, Brea and Eric have loaded his SUV with Brea’s things. She’s not taking her bedroom set either, Eric already has one and they say his is nicer than hers. She doesn’t seem to be too bothered by not taking her things. I think she’s just excited about taking this next step with her boyfriend, and I can’t blame her. They’ve been dating for almost two years now, and she’s spent the last three years helping me raise my kid. Now she can go off and enjoy her relationship. We’ll still see her, but she can focus on her and Eric. I’m happy for her, she deserves that.

  ***

  Mikey

  It took the movers a little longer than expected to pick up the things in the apartment and get them loaded into their truck, so we’re all a bit hungry, seeing how it’s now after dinner time and the lawyer is going to be here any minute. Of course that meant stopping for food on the way home. Lucky for me, Mac’s is on the way, so I gave him a quick call and had him pack up some burgers for us. To Ryker’s disappointment, I didn’t order us any milkshakes, but Shelly did promise him some chocolate milk instead.

  We walk into my place and Shelly goes straight to the kitchen to get Ryker set up with his milk and burger while I start putting some of the stuff we carried up into the appropriate rooms. There’s still more in the truck, but we’ll get that tomorrow.

  I open my carry out container and take a quick bite. “Honey, what do you want to drink?” Shelly asks me as she opens her container.

  I wipe my mouth. “I’m going to grab a beer. Want one?”

  She shakes her head no. “I’ll have water.”

  We’re about halfway through eating when we hear a knock at the door. “That’ll be my boy Jerry. I’ll get it.” I grab the door and sure enough it’s him. “Jerry, thanks so much for coming over.” I pull him in for a quick man hug. Jerry and I have been friends for years. He became my lawyer shortly after I opened the club, and over time we became friends. He takes care of anything and everything legal that comes up with Club Temptation.

  “Mikey, you know I always have your back.” I escort him into the kitchen where Ryker and Shelly are finishing their dinner.

  “Please excuse us. We got home a lot later than we expected, so we’re finishing up with dinner.”

  “It’s no problem. I have nothing going on tonight.”

  “Jerry, this is my girlfriend, Shelly, and her son, Ryker.” Shelly shakes hands with Jerry and Ryker gives him a wave.

  “Mommy, I’m full.” He pushes his foam container away.

&nb
sp; She smiles. “Go get into your pajamas and I’ll be there in a minute to put a movie on for you.” He jumps down from the snack bar and runs off to his room.

  Shelly turns back to us. “Thank you so much for coming over this evening. If you’ll just give me a minute, I’ll get him settled and then I can fill you in.”

  Jerry gives her a small smile. “Take your time.” Shelly goes to help her son, and as soon as she’s out of the room, he says to me. “So that’s Shelly.” He shakes his head. “You did good, my friend.”

  I nod. “I believe I did.” With a smile on my face, I continue, “I love them both so much and I need to make sure they’re safe. I’m not a fan of her ex, but I’ll let Shelly tell you about him when she gets back.”

  “Shelly’s back,” she says with a chuckle as she takes a seat at the snack bar. “Ryker is in bed with a movie, but I’ll need to check on him shortly.” She looks up at me from her seat.

  Jerry pulls her attention. “This shouldn’t take long. I need to know the story with your ex though, so I know where to begin.”

  She lets out an exaggerated sigh. “We started dating while I was in high school. I kept it a secret from my parents because he was older than me and I knew they wouldn’t like it. As soon as I turned eighteen, I brought him around to meet them, hoping they would accept him. At first they were fine with it, but once we started getting serious, they had a sit down with me and told me he was no good. They said I needed to break it off with him, but I wouldn’t listen. I got pregnant a short time later. When I refused to abort the baby, they kicked me out. Told me they had raised their children and they weren’t raising mine. At first things were going great. He would work odd jobs to save money for Ryker’s arrival, but once he was born, it went downhill quick. He started drinking a lot and that made money tight. I was in school trying to juggle the house, being a new mom, and being a good girlfriend.” She shrugs. “It was never enough for him. I knew I needed to make a plan, so that if I needed to leave I could, but things were rough. I was stashing away every penny I could scrape up, and it was a good thing I had. Things were getting bad.” She pauses, trying to control her emotions. I can see this is hard for her to relive. She lets out a slow breath. “I came home from school one day and Eli was pacing the living room. He was angry and looked like he was strung out on something. I had never noticed him do drugs before, but that day he was definitely on something.” She continues with the story, making sure not to miss one detail about how he abused Ryker. “The doctors were not very supportive. They said that it would be his word against mine. I said, ‘but my face.’ There was a huge ugly bruise on my cheek. I was appalled that they didn’t believe me. All they said is that my ex would say he hit you to defend his child. We ran, used cash for everything, put the apartment in my sister’s name so it wouldn’t be too easy for him to find us, and I’ve been laying low since.”

  Jerry is busy taking notes but finally looks up. “Shelly, I’m so sorry.”

  She holds up her hands. “Thank you, but I need help, not sympathy. You can’t let that monster get at my baby boy. He knew who Eli was the second he saw him. He froze and has been having nightmares ever since.”

  “I’ll do my best. His jail time will help us. I’m also going to submit a motion for child support. If he’s going to pretend to be a model citizen, then he needs to pay child support like one. I’m also going to submit a motion to change the date of our hearing on the grounds that I need to have time to prepare with my client, and hope that he slips up between now and then.”

  “You think he’ll get pissed off and do something stupid?” I ask.

  “I don’t handle a ton of cases like this, but in my experience, yes, when people have to wait for what they want, they get angry and slip up.” He looks at Shelly. “Now don’t go provoking him, which will only make things worse for you. If he approaches you, simply ask him to leave until things are finalized in court,” Jerry advises her. “The calmer you are, the more pissed he’s going to get.” Shelly nods her understanding. “I’m going to get to work on my motions and see what I can dig up on him. Do you have any questions for me?”

  “Do I need to give you a retainer or something?”

  He smiles and shakes his head. “Your boyfriend has a steady retainer with me. You’re good. You just focus on school and keeping the family safe.”

  “Thank you,” she mumbles in barely a whisper.

  “Mommy!” Ryker yells from his room, ending our conversation.

  “I’m coming, buddy.” She turns to Jerry. “Thank you so much for coming out.”

  “It’s no problem.” They shake hands and she walks off to tend to her son while I walk Jerry to the door.

  I thank my friend for taking care of this for me and lock up for the night. I have a feeling it’s going to be a long one with Ryker in his new room and the ordeal we are dealing with.

  Chapter 16

  Mikey

  We have been working really hard with Ryker on sleeping through the night since his father came around. We let him lock the door at night and he spoke with the door man, who promised him his father would not be let upstairs. This has made him feel so much better. Shelly also found some kids’ sleep music to play in his room and it has really helped. To celebrate an entire week of sleeping through the night, we’re headed to Mac’s for dinner tonight. Last night we told him how proud we were of him, and as a reward, he could pick any place he wanted to go for dinner. We both knew he would pick Mac’s, but it made the impact of the reward that much better when he picked it.

  “Ryker, it’s time to clean up and get ready for dinner. Mom will be home from school soon.” He jumps up with excitement and begins picking up his toys. He has been so good for me today. I had to sit in my office to get caught up on some work. I got him a walkie talkie and showed him how to use it, so if he was afraid, he could just call me. The first day we used it, he called me a bunch of times, ‘Mikey, what are you doing?’ ‘Mikey, will you play with me?’ ‘Mikey, I’m hungry.’ I think it was really just because it was new and a toy, but as the week went on he got better with it, and I have to admit, I’m glad. I’m not used to having a child in the house all day, so this is an adjustment for me too. Don’t get me wrong, I love him and am so glad he is here, but it’s still something I have to get used to. “When you’re done, come into the kitchen and I’ll help you get cleaned up.”

  “Okay, Mikey.” He continues along cleaning up, but meets me in the kitchen within a few minutes.

  “I’m all done, Mikey.” I need to check because I’ve quickly learned that his idea of clean is different than Shelly’s.

  “Okay, let’s go check it out. We don’t want Mommy to come home and see a mess, right?” He takes my hand and pulls me to his room. He stands proud as a peacock as I look at his room.

  “Good job, little man.” I fist bump him.

  “Thanks, Mikey.” I ruffle my hand through his curly hair.

  “I’m going to get you some clothes.”

  “Okay, can I go potty?”

  “You don’t have to ask, little man. Go potty.” He skips off with a smile on his face. When he gets back, I have his clothes laid out for him. He instantly begins the process of getting changed and I have to admit I’m happy he’s not uncomfortable changing in front of me. Then again, I’m not sure a five year old would know the difference. He slides on his shorts and pulls the brand new polo I bought him over his head. The collar is not sitting properly and it makes me chuckle. “Come here, little man.” He steps closer so I can fix it. “There, that’s better. Now I have some big boy spray…do you want to put a little on?” A huge smile spreads across his face. “Okay, follow me.” He links his fingers with mine and we head to my bathroom, where I have an old bottle of body spray. I spray him with two quick bursts. He giggles and pushes his hair out of his face. “I think we need to talk to Mommy about getting you a haircut. What do you think?”

  He smiles. “It’s too long.” His raspy voice makes me
smile.

  “I agree. We’ll talk to Mommy tonight, and if she agrees, we’ll go get you a haircut tomorrow. For now, what do you say we try to comb it so it stays out of your face?” He nods and I get busy fixing his hair so he’s ready when his mom gets here. When I’m done, I ask him if he likes it, and when he tells me he does, I take him off the counter and we go to the living room to wait for Shelly. “Why don’t you go grab a book and I’ll read with you while we wait for Mommy.”

  He agrees and runs off to pick out one of the books I put on the shelf in his room. I asked Sky to help me pick age appropriate books for him. She was such a great help and she got some for Stephan at the same time. He comes back with a Micky Mouse book. He climbs onto the couch and leans up against me. Once he’s comfortable, I start. I can’t help but smile at how happy he is to be sitting with me. That is until his mom walks in the door. He jumps down and goes running straight to her. He leaps up, and lucky for her she’s prepared, catching him midair. “Mommy, I’m ready for dinner.”

  “I can see. What were you and Mikey up to?”

  “He’s reading Mickey Mouse to me,” he cheers happily.

  “Well, I’m going to let you finish your book while I get changed for dinner.” She puts him down and he starts back for the couch. “Hey Ryker.” He turns back to his mother. “I like your hair like that.” He giggles and comes back to sit with me. The book is short, so there are only a few pages left. It’s just enough time for Shelly to get changed into something more comfortable for dinner.

  “I’m ready,” Shelly announces.

  “Yay! It’s time for a milkshake.” He jumps up and down.

  Shelly raises her brows and give him a stern look. “If you don’t calm down, young man, I’m going to tell you no milkshake.” He pouts and she shakes her head. “Let’s get out of here.” He smiles and takes his mother’s hand while I lock up.