Page 17 of Property of Madman

“Woah, woah, woah. Let’s rewind a notch, ‘kay? Fill me in on what that means exactly and who we’re talking about.”

“J-John.” The sound of his name on her tear-trembling lips is my undoing. I swear to God, I will bury that motherfucker in the north ranch if he’s hurt her in some way, which judging by hertears, I’m saying has happened. He’s gonna die. It may not be today, but the fucker will stop breathing once I catch up to him.

“John did what, honey?”

“He’s threatening to keep Hazel, to not give her back if I don’t sign everything over.”

A dark, menacing chuckle leaves me at her admission. Her nose screws up as she stares at me with confusion. Her eyes are already bloodshot from how wrecked she is over this entire thing. I’m going to make ol’ boy hurt real good for doing this to her. “Sweet woman, you telling me he’s threatening to keep the daughter I fathered with you, up there with him? Away from you? And he dares to blackmail you with my flesh and blood?”

Her teeth sink into her lower lip, and after a beat, she nods confirmation.

“I told you no one would harm these children. I promised you when you signed that contract, I’d do whatever I could to help you should the day ever arise and you asked me to step in. You askin’ me to step in, Sugar? You gonna let me be Hazel’s daddy and fix this for you? ‘Cause make no mistake, sweetheart, he willneverbother you again. Not in this lifetime, nor the next.”

With a shaky breath, she makes one of my unspoken wishes come true. “Go get our daughter,Madman. Bring her home, please.”

“Give me a fuckin’ address and watch me make it happen, babydoll.”

Chapter 10

AUDREY

Once I admit aloud what’s weighing on my mind to Gavin, everything moves quickly. We’re dressed and at hisclubhouse before I realize it’s happened, the overwhelming fog finally beginning to lift since the moment I got John’s threatening call. Gavin doesn’t have to say anything at all; his expression tells me everything I already know. He’s furious. Sharing my burden with him was remarkably hard. I’m not used to being in a situation where I can’t figure it out for myself. Being successful has taught me how to handle a myriad of issues. I’m a complex thinker and used to being the one with all the right answers, with the way to dive in and solve whatever problem there may be. However, I have no power when it comes to my children. I will give up anything for each of them.

I knew when John decided to end our FaceTime call with a threatening ultimatum, it wasn’t going to be something I could, nor should, handle alone. But who do you call when your soon-to-be ex-husband threatens to take your daughter from you and keep her? He has as many rights as I do in a court of law, since he’s been around ever since all of my children were born, so how do I fight him?

I’d give up everything, but I know it’s not the right answer. It certainly won’t stop him from doing it again in the future, and it’d also give him an unfair advantage at that point. He’d hold all the funds to easily take the children from me, so either way, I’m destined to lose with the options he’s presented me with.

Unleashing Gavin on him…Madman, well, that’s a trump card I never saw coming, and neither will he.

I’m not foolish enough to believe he’s going to go get Hazel because of feelings for me. The real reason he’s risking anything is because when it comes down to it, he’s her biological father.I’d be delusional if I allowed myself, even for a moment, to believe Gavin wants me for anything more than what we presently have together.

I’m an over forty-year-old woman who happens to be almost divorced. I have four, soon to be five, kids whom I dote on and hold the bulk of my attention when I’m not busy making my millions. As sad and discouraging as it may sound, in reality, I would be shocked to find out any man wants me with so much baggage.

There’s also the fact that I’m older than Gavin. No, he’s in this because we signed a contract and he was paid to do a job…I’m not about to fool myself into believing it’s something else. Something more. I’d be setting myself up for pure heartbreak, an emotion I can’t risk when I have so many depending on me.

I text the addresses I have where John could be staying and any other information deemed helpful to Gavin. I’m confident he’s at one of our beach houses, as I’ve gotten alerts from the alarm system. “Should I contact my lawyer? Or the police? He told me if I got anyone else involved, he’d slip away to Canada and I’d never see Hazel again.” He’s way up north at our beach house on the coast with some means to obtain more travel and lodging, so his threat is a real possibility, and the thought of it is rattling. It takes everything in me to hold back a fresh wave of tears as I face the reality of the situation, but I must be strong right now.

Brass, one of Gavin’s ranch hands, shakes his head. “Ignore what he told you, he’s nothing but a pissant kicking up dust. He’ll say anything he can think of that he believes you’ll react to. He wants to make you scared enough you won’t do anything but exactlywhat he wants. It’s a classic control method, used by a scared little rat.”

Spade, another ranch hand, agrees. “Yep, tell me, how has he acted in the past? He pitched a fit for attention, trying to get what he could out of you. You shut it down, and now he’s scrambling looking for another way to get what he wants.”

“No, Brass is right. Now that I think of it, he’s always resorted to ultimatums to get my attention and force my hand on his timeline.”

Death, the big, scary-looking biker who let me in when we first arrived, inserts, “And, if you don’t put a stop to it again, he’ll keep pulling this sort of thing. The best bet is to handle it so he can never try to hurt you and your family again.”

I silently nod, internally wondering what he means by making sure John can never hurt us again. Surely, they’ll just scare him so he disappears, right? Somehow, I don’t think we both have the same thing in mind. “I can pay you for your help with this,” I offer, my stare landing back on Gavin. The least they deserve in all of this is some compensation…so why does it feel slimy when I offer money for their help?

He grunts, bristling at my offer. “No way,Auds, this man is threatening to keep Hazel from you. I didn’t sign anything withhimabout the kids, only you. As far as I’m concerned, they do not belong to him.They belong to you.I promised long ago that if you ever needed my help with them, I’d be there, no matter what it took for me to step in.”

My lip trembles as emotion clogs up every pore in my body once more. Not only because I’m afraid of not having Hazel, but also because this man is willing to help me fight my battle when it comes to the most important people in my life. As much as I’d hoped my ex would do the same, he’s never truly stepped up to the plate. I know if it were him here now, he would not be offering to get my daughter back for me.

“How are you going to get her? How does all of this work? Aren’t you busy running this place and your business?”

“Excuses,” Gavin mutters. “These guys can keep things going smoothly in my absence; it’s exactly why Brass has that VP patch on his cut.” He chin lifts in the direction of the man to our left. I take in the black leather vest, one side has his name stitched on a patch, the other side has a patch claiming him as the Vice President. There are other patches on his vest as well, but I pay them no mind. The men around here have never had the leather vests on when I’d come for my breeding appointments, but since the kids and I have visited, we’ve gotten to see a more behind-the-scenes approach, and King’s Breeders isn’t only a business and ranch, it’s a motorcycle club.

A dangerous one if I’d have to guess, since Gavin looks ready to murder my ex, and his ‘brothers’ aren’t batting an eye over the prospect.

Brass agrees, “Yep, things around here will be business as usual. Same goes for you, Miss Audrey, the brothers and I will make sure you’ve got everything you need while you wait for Prez’s return.”

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