Fierce Obsession: LA Ruthless: Book 4 (L.A. Ruthless Series)

“Bye, buddy,” Lucia and I wave at Matthias’s smiling face on the computer screen. “We’ll see you tomorrow night.”

“Bye.” He waves and blows a kiss. “See you tomorrow.”

“Love you, munchkin,” Lucia says.

“Love you, Momma,” he blows another kiss. “You too, Dad.”

“Love you, kid,” I say and then the screen goes blank as he ends the call, no doubt running off to play with the twins before bed. Technically they’re his uncles, even though they’re only three years old. Matthias’ words cause an unexpected lump in my throat and Lucia looks at me and smiles, her eyes shining.

I still remember the day he came home from kindergarten and asked me if he could call me Dad. It was just six weeks after I asked her to marry me. Lucia and he had all but moved into my house on the beach while we waited to find a place together and as far as I was concerned, I was his father anyway. But when that cute little fucker asked me that, damn I almost fucking cried like a baby. And it still gets me every time.

“I can’t wait to see him,” she says with a soft sigh as she sits back on the sofa. “I’m going to give him the biggest hug.”

I close the laptop and put it on the coffee table before leaning back and wrapping my arm around her shoulder. She leans into me, snuggling her cheek against my chest.

“Me too,” I agree.

I knew I’d miss him, but not this much. Not that the last six days alone with Lucia in this barn haven’t been absolute fucking heaven, but I’m itching to get back to him too. Our conversations about the Avengers just aren’t the same over video call.

“Shall we watch a movie and have an early night?” I ask before kissing the top of her head. Damn she smells so good it makes my dick twitch in my jeans.

“Sounds perfect. I’ll even let you choose,” she stifles a yawn.

“You tired, baby?”

“Hmm. I thought spending almost an entire week in bed would leave me feeling refreshed,” she laughs softly.

“Yeah, but that only works when you’re sleeping in it,” I remind her.

“Ah, yes, not much sleeping with you around, Jackson Decker.”

“Who woke me up at three am this morning riding my cock?” I tickle her waist and she shrieks with laughter.

“Oh, yes, forgot about that,” she breathes when she stops laughing.

“Hmm. An early night with no fucking then?” I suggest.

She pops an eyebrow at me. “I’m pretty sure that’s illegal when you’re on your honeymoon.”

“A quick fuck and then sleep?” I say, winking at her and smiling when she blushes.

“Deal, cowboy,” she purrs, the sound making a direct path to my cock as she rests her head against me again. “So choose us a movie.”

The credits are rolling over the screen and I look down to see Lucia’s eyes are closed and she’s breathing softly. Switching off the TV, I’m about to carry her to bed when I hear the banging on the French doors. Lucia jolts awake and we both look around to see Molly standing outside.

Lucia sits straight and I jump up, jogging over to find out why my aunt just scared the hell out of us.

“Jax,” she pants as I pull open the doors. Her hair is all mussed up and she’s in her pajamas. My blood starts pumping faster in my veins. “It’s your father. He’s in the hospital. Somebody beat him up. He’s in pretty bad shape.”

“What? Who?” I look out behind her. Did this happen on the ranch?

I feel Lucia standing behind me now, her hand on my back.

Molly blinks at me. She’s stalling. Why?

“Seems he was about to get into his truck and… they think there must have been a few of them.” She wipes a tear from her face.

I frown at her. “Where was he?”

She licks her lips and then sucks in a breath. “Rocky’s.”

No wonder she was stalling. “He was in a bar?” I snarl. “Fucking typical.”

“You don’t know that he was drinking, Jax,” Lucia says softly, pressing a tender kiss on my shoulder blade.

“Why are you always so quick to assume the best in him?” I turn and snap at her, my tone harsher than I intended.

“Why are you so quick to assume the worst?” she counters.

“Recovering alcoholics don’t go to a bar for any reason other than to drink, angel.”

“You don’t know that. Maybe he was meeting somebody. A friend? A date?”

“Can we argue about this later? Right now we gotta get to the hospital?” Molly yells as she looks between Lucia and me.

What if I tell her that it serves him right he got beat up? If he was drunk he probably ran his mouth off at the wrong people, or picked a fight with someone he shouldn’t have. Maybe I don’t give a rats ass that he’s lying in some hospital bed. But I do care about my aunt and right now she is anxious and worried. I can’t have her driving herself to the hospital. I can’t let her do this alone.

“Fine. I’ll get my keys,” I say with a sigh. Looks like that early night just got put on the back burner.

Staring at my father in the bed, as the machines beep and hiss, keeping him alive, I wonder if this was anything he did. What the hell could he have done to make someone so pissed they’d do this to him?

I mean, back in the day, he was a mean drunk, but now, even with a drink in him, I can’t imagine he’s a threat to anyone. His hands are gnarled from years of manual labor. He’s six feet tall, but he’s sixty-one years old and the years of drinking haven’t been kind to his body. He’s not in the best shape. But for some reason, some people have really done a number on him. His hands are bandaged and I wonder if they’re broken. That would kill him if they were. He’s always worked with his hands — even when he was drunk, he still worked. As much as I hate to admit it, he can fix almost anything — providing it doesn’t talk or breathe. Things – he is good with. People – not so much.

I’m still staring at him when the doctor walks into the room. “Mr. Decker,” he says to me, holding out his hand. “I’m Dr. Addison. I’m the doctor in charge of your father’s care while he’s with us. He’s very fortunate that somebody came across him when they did. He had quite a lot of internal bleeding.”

“Well, I’m sure the alcohol helped numb the pain for him.”

Dr. Addison blinks at me in confusion. “There was no alcohol in his system.”

“What?” I frown. They must have made some kind of mistake. “But he was in a bar.”

“Well, he wasn’t drinking. His blood alcohol was zero.”

I’m aware of Lucia’s hand rubbing over my back, reminding me to breathe. She should tell me that she told me so, but she’s not that kind of person. It’s true that I always think the worst of my father, but that’s because that’s all he’s ever shown me. Until recently anyway, when I no longer need him in my life.

But if he wasn’t drinking, what the hell was he doing in that damn bar?

I look at him. Machines beeping and wires sticking out of him. The only reasons he’s still alive.

“Is he going to be okay?” I ask, the words unexpectedly sticking in my throat.

“He was in pretty bad shape. Like I said, if somebody hadn’t found him when they did, he wouldn’t have made it much longer. We’ve done all we can. Only time will give us the answers. His body has been through a lot,” the doctor says quietly.

“They have any idea who did this to him?”

“No. The guy who called it in said he didn’t see a thing. He was a college kid home for the weekend and out for a late night jog. He called the sheriff too and I expect he’s on his way. We had to dispose of your father’s clothes, but he had his cell and some loose change as well as the keys to his truck on him. They’re all in the locker there.” He nods his head toward the small locker beside Harvey’s bed. Then his pager beeps and he glances down at it. “I’m sorry, I have to be somewhere. I’ll check in later if you’re still here, but feel free to go home and get some rest. The drugs we gave him won’t wear off for a while.”

“Thank you, doc,” I say with a nod of my head.

My aunt Molly sits beside Harvey, holding his hand and watching his chest rising and falling. “Who would do this, Jax?” she whispers when the doctor leaves the room.

I suck in a breath through my nose. “Does he go to that place a lot?”

“No,” she shakes her head and wipes away a tear. “He hasn’t been to a bar in years. He avoids them as much as he can.”

“So why was he at one tonight? You have any idea?”

“No. He just said he was going out and he’d be back in a few hours. I was distracted preparing dinner. He seemed pleased though, you know? Like he looked happy about where he was going.”

I go to the locker and take out his cell. It’s an old model and he needs an upgrade, but I’ve hardly ever seen him use the thing. I’m surprised he knows how to. I click the button and a picture of Blue lights up the screen with a request for a six digit passcode.

“Any idea what his passcode is, Molly?”

She shakes her head. “No. Sorry.”

I blink at the screen. His birthday would be too obvious. He’s not tech-minded, but he’s not stupid. I tap in the digits of my own birthday but get an error message. I get two more tries.

“You know when Blue was born?” I ask. My father loves that dog more than anyone or anything.

“No idea,” Molly replies.

“Fuck!” I mumble, rubbing the pad of my thumb over the cracked screen. I think of another birthday, I mean I’d be surprised if he even remembered it, but it’s worth a try, right? When my mother’s birthday unlocks the screen I don’t know whether to be annoyed or relieved.

Molly and Lucia stare at me anxiously as I go straight to his messages. Maybe that will give us some clue as to why he was at that bar?

It does.

His last message is from a number that he doesn’t have saved as a contact.

Perfect. Meet me at Rocky’s on Menville at eight.

Frowning at the screen, I scroll further up and discover only a handful of messages between him and the person he was meeting. It seems like my father was arranging to buy something. Swiping my thumb, I scroll higher and the image that appears on the screen almost takes the breath from my lungs.

“What is it?” Lucia asks as she steps closer to me, her soothing hand on my back again.

“He was going to buy this,” I reply, tilting the phone and showing her the image of the wooden crib, just like the one I’d spoken about at dinner a few nights earlier.

“Oh, Jax,” she gasps, her hand flying to her mouth to stifle the sob that comes after.

Molly cranes her neck so she can look too. “A crib?” she whispers. “That makes sense. I’ve never seen him so happy as he’s been these past few months renovating that barn for you both. He took so much pride in it…” she starts to cry softly as she rests her forehead on my father’s hand.

I tap the screen again, calling the number of the person who was selling the crib and hold it to my ear. The number is out of service and suddenly the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.

“Did they answer?” Lucia asks.

I shake my head. “Out of service.”

“What? Already? But they just messaged him tonight?” she says, blinking up at me with her huge brown eyes.

“I know, baby,” I say with a sigh, wrapping my arms around her and resting my chin on her head.

“Jax, you think this was planned? You think it was a trap?”

“I don’t know, Luce,” I reply, even though my gut tells me that it was. Why else would that number no longer be in use? Switched off or out of range is explainable, but out of service? “I’ll go through his phone when we get home and see what else I can find.”

“Did you know he was looking for a crib, Molly?” Lucia asks and my aunt lifts her head and wipes her eyes.

“No. He went into town the morning after you mentioned it at dinner though? Maybe he put an ad in Johnson’s store? That was how he found the rocking chair?”

“Does Shannon’s mom still own that place?” I ask.

“Yeah,” Molly nods softly.

“Good. I’ll go there tomorrow and ask around.”

I look down at Lucia again. Fuck, I love her so damn much. “I’m gonna have to put off going home for a few days, baby. That okay with you?”

I see the sadness in her eyes. She loves the ranch and I know she’d stay longer, but she misses our boy. “But Matthias?” she whispers. “He’s expecting us both home.”

“I know, baby, but I can’t leave here until my father wakes up and I find out what’s happened. It will just be a few more days. I promise.”

“I don’t want to go without you, Jax,” she whispers. “Maybe I’ll ask my father to bring Matthias here? He’ll do that for us if we ask him?”

I brush her dark hair back from her face. “Until I know what this is about, I think you’ll both be safer at home in LA.”

“But…” her lip trembles and I dip my head and kiss her softly.

I don’t want her to go either, but I need her safe. And until I know whether this was a coincidence or part of something more, I can’t be assured that she is. I can’t give her my undivided attention while I’m trying to find out who almost killed my father.

“I love you so much, angel, but I need to find out who did this. You understand that, right?”

“Of course I do, Jax,” she breathes. “I just don’t want to be away from you. I have a horrible feeling…” she shivers and I wrap my arms tighter around her.

“There’s nothing to be worried about, Luce. You go home to our boy and I’ll follow you in a few days.”