Play for Keeps (The Devil's Share #6)(19)

Dash and Luke were still standing where I had left them, Dash with the gun trained on my old man. I looked around. “Where the hell is Jacks?”





Chapter Sixteen Jacks I couldn’t tell you what made me go back outside, or what made me go down the stairs. I just got this chill, this feeling in my spine that I needed to move. I’d become somewhat claustrophobic, which had never happened to me before. I walked under the house, toward the water, toward the green metal boats bobbing along straining against their ropes.

And that’s when I heard it, that’s when I heard the crying. I followed the sound to the right, to the second boat. Lying inside was a kid. A little boy who couldn’t have been older than three or four. He had dark hair and light eyes, and he was rail thin. He reminded me of Landry when I’d first laid eyes on her. Only he was covered in dried blood and bruises.

“Hey, buddy, are you okay?” My heart was in my throat. It was obvious that he wasn’t okay. Not even in the realm of okay.

He jumped at the sound of my voice, rocking the small boat and letting out a little yelp. But he opened one eye and looked at me.

His cheekbone was cut. I clenched my fists to keep from reacting to how bad he looked. “Do you live here?”

He nodded, curling in tighter on himself.

“With your mom and dad?”

He shook his head.

“Where are your parents, buddy?” I crouched down, getting closer to his level, something that had always seemed to make Landry more at ease in the beginning. “Can I come sit in there with you?”

He nodded, and then closed his eyes again.

I climbed in slowly, careful not to rock the boat too much or jostle his tiny bruised little body. “Where is your mom?”

His voice was strong and clear, heavily accented. “She died when I was a baby.”

I swallowed past the lump in my throat. “And your dad?”

“Prison.”

I closed my eyes, shaking my head. Jared. His father had to be Smith’s cousin Jared. Who else in their right mind would leave a kid in this hellhole? “Did your dad play the drums?” I couldn’t make myself say that piece of shit’s name out loud. I was seeing-red angry, so pissed off that Jared had neglected his kid. That he’d left him here to be starved and beaten. Fuckin’ hell. Jared grew up with Smith, knew exactly the life he’d had. Had seen the beatings he’d endured by his dad.

The boy nodded his head again. “Yeah.”

“Who hit you?”

“My uncle. But it was my fault, he told me to stay in my room while he was working. I got hungry and came out before it was time.” He sat up slowly; I could tell his body was sore. “I won’t do it again.”

I looked around at the water, the cypress trees, the low-hanging moss. “It’s pretty out here, huh?”

He shrugged. “I guess.”

“Is that your puppy out there, the one chained to the doghouse?”

He shook his head sadly. “No. That’s my uncle’s dog. He trains them to fight, so I’m not allowed to play with them. If I’m nice to them, they’ll never get tough. That’s what he says.”

I bit my lip, bile rising in my throat. Apparently his philosophy on parenting came from how he trained his dogs. I held my hand out. “My name is Jacks. I was a friend of your dad’s when we were younger.”

He put his small hand in mine, looking me in the eye for the first time. “Are you here to get me?”

I cocked my head to the side. “Get you?”

“Yeah. My dad said that one day, someone would probably come take me from here and make me live somewhere else.” Jared had basically told his son that CPS would eventually come take him away? Why the hell had he left him here to begin with?

The little boy’s eyes held hope, and mine filled with tears.





Chapter Seventeen

Dylan





3 Months Later


“Babe?”

“Yeah, cher?”

I started to laugh, I couldn’t help it. “You have spit-up in your hair.”

He started to gag. After all this time, vomit still made him want to puke.

“Evie projectile vomited when you were in the shower. I thought I got it all.” He handed me our six-week-old daughter and ran toward the bathroom, gagging every few steps.

Smith was an amazing father and Evie was a dream baby. She was so calm, she rarely cried. As long as she had people around, she was more than happy. My doctors had weened me off my meds after two weeks of bed rest and immediately I’d gone back into labor. Evangeline Lawson James was born seven hours later weighing in at six pounds eight ounces.

I took my tiny baby and laid her down on the bed. “It’s time to get you dressed for Aunt Lexi and Uncle Dash’s wedding, angel baby.” My little girl was already a jet-setter. We’d flown in two days ago for Dash and Lexi’s wedding, which they’d postponed for us. We took the label’s private jet, avoiding all the germs that came with airports and commercial flying.

I took her out of her onesie and put her in the miniature flower girl dress. It matched Landry’s.

“I’ve got to head on down to the beach. Are you girls going to be okay?” Smith came in the room, lying down gently beside his daughter.