Page 53 of Justice For Me

“We are working on continuous improvement, sir. He’s come a long way.” His eyes cut around to look at his lover. The smirk on his face made it clear he may have taken a few baby steps…but that was it. “Okay, he’s the same smart ass as he was the first day we met. I like him just fine that way,” he added softly.

Director Conners stood, with his mouth wide open, staring at Malachi. Disbelief was written all over his face. He’d been around Malachi quite a bit over the past year…and this man was not acting like the Malachi he knew.

“What the hell do you want, O’Hara?” Malachi asked in a deadly voice that dared the drug lord to challenge him. The older O’Hara had about eight of his men surrounding him…ready to go head-to-head with Justice’s security. “You have no business being here from what I’ve heard.”

Pale blue eyes, old and weary, gazed back at them. The man looked like he had aged ten years since his son’s arrest several months back. His shoulders were hunched and his face pale and pinched with worry. It was pathetic to see another father suffer because of the sins of his son, but Malachi would be damned if he got anywhere near his boy. Justice belonged to him and Megan and he would protect him with his very life if it called for it.

“I’ve come to apologize to the boy…and to see that my son is punished for his transgressions.”

Director Conners hissed out a string of curse words that would have gotten Justice grounded. “Yea, right, like we are going to believe that bullshit. You need to walk away and leave before something really bad happens, old man. It would be our honor to blow you to bits right here on our good American soil.”

“Even…people of my type have boundaries, director. The place my son,” he glanced around Malachi’s body to pin Justice with a fatherly stare, “and your son visited played in the human trafficking arena from everything I’ve been able to gather. I might be able to turn a blind eye to prostitution, but I don’t sell or condone the selling of young people for sex. I’m concerned whether you believe me or not. I’m simply here to ensure my son’s punishment is handled properly.” Another glance toward Justice and he added, “Perhaps you should consider reigning your son in, as well.”

“My son is fucking fine and dandy, O’Hara,” Conners said through gritted teeth. “You need to walk away and not look back in our direction. His testimony will lock your son up for a very long time and none of us really give a care if you support that or not.”

“I understand.” The older gentleman answered. To Justice, he said, “Good luck, son. Let this be a lesson learned for you. Those types of places are nothing but dangerous and ill-fated. Stay away from them in the future.”

Malachi was aware of everything happening around him. He knew Justice was safely tucked directly behind his body, seething from being treated like a helpless victim, but safe nonetheless. Some of Dustin’s men were enclosing them in a protective circle while others were scattered throughout the hallway, blending in with the crowd but ready to strike if necessary. Several of the news media crew had managed to get inside the courthouse and were snapping pictures with the same intensity that sharks demonstrated in a feeding frenzy. None of them had weapons…they had been allowed to bring anything into the courthouse. They didn’t need them. He would kill each of them with his bare hands if they made the fucking mistake of trying to take what belonged to him.

O’Hara’s thugs, from the bulges beneath their jackets, had managed to get some type of weapon inside, probably a knife of some kind. Wasn’t that just fucking perfect? The drug lord’s men were tense and nervous…which made Malachi tense and nervous. The old man? He looked perfectly calm and entirely too innocent. He’d always prided himself on being able to read body language. Old man O’Hara’s body was telling him the words tumbling from his mouth were true…at least the old man believed them.

He was about to breathe a sigh of relief…when the entire scene around him exploded with movement.

Chapter 15

Justice and Sal walked the wooded path that was supposed to lead to some gazebo once he hit the clearing. He doubted he would go that far…didn’t trust himself to be alone with his thoughts that long.His thoughts? Dangerous territory. He’d felt it coming for days now…threatening the peace and happiness he was so desperately trying to build with Malachi and Megan.

It had started creeping upon him the moment hell had broken lose in the courthouse. There was no fucking connection that he could link to his usual triggers, but it had happened. O’Hara’s bodyguards had apparently been loyal to Marcus instead of the old man. His eyes blinked rapidly as he pictured the old man’s throat being slit open right in front of them, right in the middle of the fucking courthouse with the FBI standing right there. Blood had sprayed in every direction.. Three of Dustin’s security team had tackled him to the ground, covering his body with their own. From beneath the pile, he had managed to see Malachi, his father, and the rest of Jericho security destroy O’Hara’s men before they could even attempt the second portion of their plan – killing Justice before he could testify. Those poor pathetic drug-sucking bastards had been willing to give their own lives just to erase his…and free Marcus O’Hara. They hadn’t counted on Malachi.

Even with his insecurities and doubts threatening to overtake him at any given moment, Justice’s cock still got hard when he pictured how efficiently and utterly deadly Malachi’s movements had been as he systematically removed each and every threat to his pet. Muscles rippled and his eyes blazed with fury and determination. It should have thrilled Justice, convinced him that the other alpha man really wanted him, but in the end, it had only succeeded in making his dick hard. His heart was still fucking soft.

Why did it always happen? He didn’t have a fucking clue. Sure, he knew what the psychiatrist preached to him, but he was pretty sure that fucker didn’t really have a clue. He hadn’t walked in his shoes…hidden in his closet. The man didn’t survive the first eight years of his life surrounded by drugs, sex, and abuse…or without any touches generated from love. His doctor had a mother to love him, hold him, kiss away his aches and pains, and protected him from the evils of the world. His mother, God rest her crack-head soul, had thrust her son smack fuck in the middle of evil.

At least that’s what his good doctor said was wrong with him. There’s a word, a cold medical term, for his constant torment, but he didn’t like to think it or say it. Acknowledging it only made it even more real and ugly. He liked to pretend he was perfectly normal instead of broken, capable of normal relationships. Maybe that’s why he couldn’t be fixed, why the worries of his disease were always there, lurking in the back of his mind, hiding in that closet with the little boy Conners had found all those years ago. Wasn’t admitting you have the problem the first step to recovery? Well, if that was the recovery step, what was lying to yourself and others…pretending you’re capable of a relationship when you know you aren’t? Fucked up, that’s what it was.

Focus. He had to stay focused on making this be exactly what it was supposed to be…sex. His dick could come out to play but his fucking weak and needy heart had to stay locked away.

He felt his body go rigid with fury as his mind violently denied his thoughts. Yea, his poor pathetically needy mind wanted to fall in love every…damned…time. Every time someone touched him, his mind tumbled head over heels in love, dragging his heart and body along for the ride. Back at the cabin in Tennessee, he’d continuously fought the battle to not repeat his past mistakes. When he’d wanted to hop out of bed every morning and fix Malachi’s breakfast, he’d poured himself a bowl of cereal and planted his ass firmly in a chair. Every time he was near the man, his hands itched to explore every inch of his body, greedily touching and claiming it as his own, but Malachi had fixed the fuck out of that with his restraints.

Fuck, how he loved those restraints. They kept him from doing embarrassingly dumb shit…took his control away and made his body focus on feeling instead of trying to please. He loved being tied. He loved kneeling and waiting for his master or Mistress to tell him what he could or couldn’t do. At this moment, those restraints might be the only life line keeping his head above water.

Darkness threatened. How much longer could he hold it at bay? How long did he have before it all tumbled down around him?

The sound of horses galloping in his direction jerked him back to reality. It was a good thing. Sal, his protector, heard the approach and started trying to climb up his body. With a roll of his eyes, he hefted the lanky bloodhound into his arms and snuggled him close against his chest. He damned well knew how bad it felt to be afraid, so he held the trembling fur mass tightly. The fucker was too big to be carried…but he did it anyway.

How different would his life be right now if someone had carried him?

The two horses wheeled to a stop a few yards in front of him. Shit, the smiles on Susannah and Jasper’s faces nearly brought him to his knees. Jasper had been through so much more fucking shit than he had, but Goldilocks was still able to fall in love.

He glanced up and forced a fake smile on his face. Susannah would fall for it, Jasper would not. Jasper’s Domme, as usual, looked fucking gorgeous in her leathers and her wild auburn hair curling in every direction. She looked untamable…body and spirit. The leather bustier hugged her curves to perfection. The black leather pants looked like a second skin as they enhanced every firm muscle and soft womanly dip. Holy shit! Were they…

“Eyes on me, asshole,” Jasper barked as he maneuvered his horse between Susannah and Justice. Yep, those were crotch less leathers and Goldilocks didn’t like to share. Fine by him, he had double the fun waiting for him at the castle…for now.

“Chill out, Goldilocks,” he smirked. “What’s wrong? Plug in your ass too big for a comfortable horseback ride?”

Ahhhh…such a pretty blush. It was no wonder everyone fell for his charms.

Susannah’s laughter interrupted any weak argument Jasper might have been about to throw his way.

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