I remain rooted to the spot where Haden left me when I stood and embraced him. I haven’t even had the chance to sit back down before Shadow came out here yelling at me. I think I’m more alarmed than anything else. With his shades rested on top of his head, his dark, coal black eyes glare at me.

Shadow is making it extra hard for me to understand what it is that he wants from me. I thought leaving him alone that morning was what he wanted, but his shocking gaze makes me think that maybe I was wrong. I hope I was wrong.

“You let that motherfucker fuck you in the bathroom right after I fucked you!”

I suck my lips in as I try to hold back my laughter. He really fell for it. It actually worked.

“What the fuck is so goddamn, fuckin’ funny?”

I look away from him, pick up the mess from lunch, and carry it over to the trashcan without saying another word to him.

“Shit, Tea! I wanted to give us a shot! But now fuck it. Fuck all of it!”

What? I flip around with what has to be the most confused expression I have ever made laced across my face.

“Shadow… I don’t understand. I thought you were going to brush me off the other morning. I didn’t…,” I trail off before telling him the truth. “Haden and I didn’t have sex in the bathroom. I had him bite me to piss you off. To make you think that we did.”

He grabs at the sides of his head in frustration. “I fuckin’ can’t believe you!” Shadow drops his hands from his head and stalks towards me. He seizes my elbows as he pushes me towards the bench of the picnic table.

“Bend the fuck over, Tea. I’m so angry that I need, no, I have to fuckin’ spank you while my dick tears into your pussy,” he growls.

With sheer force, he presses into my back with his palm and bends me over, and my hands slap down onto the wooden bench. I try to peek behind me to gauge his mood, but the wind sweeps into the courtyard and blows my hair over my eyes.

One large, callused hand drags my shorts and underwear down to my ankles as the other slaps down onto my bare ass.

“The crimson marks I left on your ass are fading. I think I need to smack it a lot harder.” He bends down to my ear and drawls in that sexy southern voice. His hand comes down again. The slaps echo throughout the courtyard as he repeatedly whacks my ass.

“Do we have an understanding now, darlin’? Are you goin’ to seek out others to fuck you?”

Oh, god. The sting of the slaps on my ass burn. I shake my head back and forth to say, “No,” as I moan in pleasure.

“You on birth control?”

I’ve been on birth control since I was a teenager to help with the curse of cramps, but I can’t tell him that, so I nod my head yes.

His phone ringing interrupts us before he can drive into me.

“Fuck!”

Yeah, I agree with that. Let’s do this. But I don’t get what I want. He stops and moves away from me with aggravated hesitation.

“Shadow,” he barks into his phone. Whoever it is that answers has him quickly moving. He lifts me to a standing position, and then bends down to pull my clothing up as he listens intently. When I am dressed, he tucks himself back into his jeans.

“Are you fuckin’ serious?” he booms. “Danick, I don’t know what to say, man. It’s been years. Are you sure?”

Shadow’s head bobs up and down as he tunes into the conversation. His hand goes to his sunglasses and drags them down over his pensive eyes.

When I move, it draws him from the call for a moment. “You need to find ZZ. Something went wrong at the hospital last night with Winter. I’d tell you, but…” He gestures his hand to this phone.

I mouth the word okay as I walk to the door and into the live-in building in search of answers. My gut tosses around as I think of the worst possible outcome of what has happened.

***

Chapter Twenty

It’s a Breakneck Chapter

Shadow

When I finish the call, my mind is reeling. Danick has been a friend of mine since I was sixteen years old. He took me under his wings and taught me everything there is to know about the kink world. I’m his prodigy, so to speak.

When I was eighteen, his pregnant wife was murdered. He’s been ripping across the United States ever since it happened, looking for the ones responsible. He’s cold, but he has every right to be. The information he’s given me has me more than fucking worried for my friend. He is going up against forces he shouldn’t be dealing with on his own, and I voiced that. Danick’s response was that he has help, and as my mentor, he has not once lied to me. I’m going to trust his word, but I did tell him to call me if he needs me.

When family is in trouble, you drop everything, and Danick is the only reason I know how to deal with my demons safely. I pray to the gods he gets to exact his revenge on whoever did this to his wife. My friend hasn’t been, for good reason, the same guy he was when I met him. I hope one day he will get his life back, and these fuckers get what they deserve.

***

ZZ

Fucking processing all the bullshit our family is going through right now is more than a goddamn migraine.

Storm and I lost our baby because of those fucking idiots that chased her car, and when my mind thinks about what my Prez and our first lady are going through, it stabs me right in the fucking heart all over again.

When Tatiana finds me, worry glazes her eyes. I know Shadow must have told her I have some news about the pregnancy.

“She’s on bed rest for the rest of the pregnancy. She will spend a few more days in the hospital before they allow her to finish it here. She has what they call placenta previa.” I explain before she has a chance to ask. “She’s going through all this bullshit because of the scarring on her cervix and uterus.”