Xavier Cold (Hard Knocks #2) (28 page)

He shrugs and then says, “Follow me.” He leads us over to a tall, skinny man wearing a suit, standing next to an open trunk on a police cruiser. “Detective Greyson, this is the homeowner.”

The lanky detective with sandy blond hair gives me the once over and then flips out a notepad without asking about my injuries. “Name?”

“Xavier Cold.”

His eyes jerk to me and he eyes me suspiciously. “Age?”

“Twenty-eight.” I lift one eyebrow. “What’s this have to do with anything?”

Detective Greyson sighs. “The fire did not completely destroy the upstairs of the house. During the firefighter’s sweep of the house, they entered a bedroom that was padlocked from the outside. A body was located in the closet of that room, behind a false wall. From the looks of things, the body had been there for quite some time, making it unidentifiable. Ironically, the body did have identification. The name on the I.D. was Xavier Cold.”

My head jerks back. “What? It had my name on it?”

“Not exactly.” He reaches into his trunk, pulls out a plastic baggie labeled evidence, and holds it up for my inspection. Inside the clear plastic, is the state I.D. he’s talking about. There, staring back at me might as well be my own reflection. A man with long dark hair, crystal blue eyes, and a smirk is a man named Xavier Cold, born in nineteen sixty-eight.

“Oh, my God,” Anna murmurs next to me, seeing exactly what I see. “Is that your father?”

I bite my lower lip. “Looks that way. I never knew his name or saw his picture. Mom always said he ran off.”

“We also found a diary in the same closet.” He holds another baggie up. “We found this page especially incriminating, so we left it open as we put it in the bag because it clearly tells us who killed this man. Can you tell me if Irma Winslow had any mental health problems?”

“Who is Irma Winslow?” Anna asks.

“That’s the name inscribed inside the diary,” Detective Greyson says.

“She was also my grandmother,” I confirm for her and then turn to address the Detective. “She was an evil bitch, but I don’t know of any diagnosed problems.”

“Well . . .” he trails off. “If you ever had any question if she did or not, check out what’s written here.” He points to the open pages and I lean in to read the scribbled mess.

Today was the day. I ended him God, just like you said to do. I couldn’t allow the evil monster to take away my Gina, so I stopped him.

The only problem is his evil seed is already implanted in my daughter and I have to figure out a way to get rid of his spawn. Gina won’t believe me when I tell her about all this. She doesn’t believe that Satan tried to take her away from me, but I do.

I blow a slow breath between pursed lips as the things she’s written sinks in.

“Heavy shit, right? If it’s you that she’s referring to in this insane rambling, you’re lucky you’re still here.” The cop pulls the baggie away and puts them both back into a box labeled as evidence. “The coroner will be able to give us an approximation of how long the victim has been deceased and the cause of death, but I’m guessing this man has been in that closet for a long, long time.”

“Probably over twenty eight years,” I mutter, still in shock. “No wonder Grandmother hated me. I was probably a constant reminder of the evil thing she did to the man she locked in her closet. This . . . it explains so much.”

Anna rubs my back. “Yes it does.”

Finally, all the questions I’ve had lingering my entire life finally have answers. My father never abandoned me and my mother. He was killed—murdered by my Grandmother who spent the rest of her life concealing her evil to the public. But I knew the truth about her, and now so will the rest of the world.

I
set my coffee down on the desk, and then creep over to place a cup on the nightstand by Xavier. He didn’t sleep well last night. We were up discussing the things that were found in his childhood home. It was hard for him to digest everything that’s happened to him. It was a heavy load to take in, but at least we’re at a point in our relationship where he feels comfortable enough to talk to me about the things he’s feeling.

I attempt to tip-toe away, but Xavier’s hand snakes out from under the covers and snatches my wrist. “Where you going?”

He playfully pulls me down in the bed with him and then wraps his arm around me, snuggling against me. “You smell good.”

“I showered.” I giggle. “It’s called soap.”

“Mmm. Maybe we shouldn’t go out today. I still owe you a day in bed.”

I trace the ridge of his nose with the tip of my finger, careful not to touch any of the bruises on his face. “We could do that, but I think finding an apartment before we leave for Tension might be a better option.”

He nods. “You’re right. And we need to find you a ring.”

“We don’t have to do that today.”

“Yes, we do.” He nuzzles his nose into my hair and kisses my neck. “Since I’m not allowed to fuck up assholes for checking you out anymore, a ring on that finger of yours will be the next best thing to let every man in the world know you’re taken.”

“I don’t need a ring for that. All they would have to do is look into my eyes and see a woman whose heart has already been claimed.”

Xavier touches my cheek. “I love you, beautiful. You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me—my angel—my
everything
, and I’ll never let you go again.”

T
he list I’ve kept in my purse over the last eleven months is tattered. I must’ve triple checked it over a hundred times, making sure I don’t forget anything for the day we’ve been counting down for nearly a year.

Quinn rips several tissues out of the box sitting on the table and stuffs them under her arm, then repeats the scenario for the other armpit. She looks ridiculous standing there in her wedding dress with tissues poking out from her underarms.

“It’s hot as Hades in here,” Quinn complains.

I laugh. “It’s not that bad in here. You’re just nervous.”

“Am not. Why would I be? I’m marrying the man I love and we’re going to be together for the rest of our entire lives. No pressure.” I’ve noticed Quinn rattles on when she’s a bit panicked.

I stand up and grab her hands, trying to calm her down. “You’re going to be fine. There’s nothing to getting married.”

“Easy for you to say.” She rolls her eyes. “You and X didn’t get married in a church full of people watching your every move.”

“No. We didn’t. But getting married at city hall was the quickest way we could get it done.”

I smile thinking about our spur of the moment wedding. We didn’t tell anyone we were doing it. But after what happened with Bishop, we decided life was too short and we wanted to officially make our love eternal.

A knock sounds on the other side of the door. I cross the small room the church provided for the bridal party to get ready in, and pull open the door.

Xavier stands there, cradling our baby boy in his massive arms. He looks very dapper with his hair slicked back into a bun while in his black three-piece suit. I’m convinced my man looks good in anything he wears. Xavier grimaces. “Sorry, I know this is girl time, but someone wanted to see Mommy before she had to go perform her maid of honor duties.”

I pull the blanket away. “He’s sleeping.”

Xavier grins. “I didn’t say it was Simon who needed you.”

“You’re too much.” I lean in and kiss his lips. “Are my parents and my brother here yet?”

“Yep. We’ll all be sitting in the second row together.”

I bend down and place a light kiss on our baby’s forehead and then kiss Xavier one more time. “I’ll see you at the reception. I’ll be the one in the puffy bridesmaid dress.”

He steps back and checks out what I’m wearing. “Is it easy to get out of?”

I grin. “You’ll find out tonight.”

He wiggles his eyebrows. “It’s a date. Later, beautiful.”

He turns and heads back out to the chapel where everyone else is waiting.

I turn to Quinn. “You ready to do this?”

“Yes,” she confirms and begins heading toward me.

I grimace and then point to her shoulder. “The tissues?”

She quickly jerks them out and tosses them into the trashcan and then takes a deep breath. “Let’s do this.”

I follow her out the door, and it hits me I have a pretty great life. It was a long, hard road to get here, but together Xavier and I made it out on the other side, stronger than ever. Things tested us along the way, but learning to lean on each other helped us get through testifying against Bishop and Kai. Thanks to me and Xavier taking the stand, Bishop and Kai will be serving nearly seventy years between the two of them. The streets of Detroit are a lot safer without them around.

Deena and Rex are still a pain in the ass from time to time when Xavier and me are on the road doing Tension, but they’ve decided it was no longer worth their efforts to break us up once word got around I was pregnant. Xavier’s been on the road without me since Simon was born, but as soon as he’s a little bigger, we plan on taking him on the road with us until it’s time to start school.

My mother offered to babysit for us if we move to Portland, but I explained Detroit is home for us now. In place of rebuilding the house on Sycamore, Xavier built a recreation center for underprivileged youths in the neighborhood. Cole, Nettie, and Quinn have pitched in a lot to really get the project off the ground and run it for us when we’re on the road. It’s a very personal project for Xavier. He loves the idea of providing a positive place to keep kids off the streets.

I’ve never seen Xavier happier. I couldn’t ask for a better husband and father to our son than him. Having his own family has truly brought him out of the darkness, and now the rest of the world is beginning to learn what I’ve known all along—that Xavier is a good man with a huge heart. I am so proud of him, and I know that our lives together will just keep getting better and better.

T
he first person I want to thank is you, my dear readers, for waiting patiently for the conclusion to Xavier and Anna’s story. Thank you all for loving them as much as I do. I hope you know how much I appreciate each and every one of you.

Jennifer Wolfel, I seriously don’t know how I could ever write a story without your input. Your love, support and never wavering faith in me and my work truly means the world to me. Thank you for being your amazing self.

Emily Snow, thank you so much for helping me with this book. It seriously helped me a ton!

Jennifer Foor and Holly Malgieri, thank you all for being there for me over the years. I treasure the friendship I have with each of you so much!

Jenny Sims and Jovana Shirley, thank you for being an amazing editors and working so hard on this project. My timing was crappy, but you two pulled through for me. Thank you so much!

Christine Borgford, you are simply amazing and are truly a wicked awesome human being. Thank you for putting up with me.

My beautiful ladies in Valentine’s Vixens Group, you all are the best. You guys always brighten my day and push me to be a better writer. Thank you!

To the romance blogging community, thank you for always supporting me and my books. I can’t tell you how much every share, tweet, post, and comment means to me. I read them all, and every time I feel giddy. Thank you for everything you do. Blogging is not an easy job, and I can’t tell you how much I appreciate what you do for indie authors like me. You totally make our world go round.

Last, but always first in my life, my husband and son: thank you for putting up with me. I love you both more than words can express.

N
ew York Times
and
USA Today
bestselling author Michelle A. Valentine is a self-professed music addict that resides in Columbus, Ohio, with her husband, son, and two scrappy dogs. When she’s not slaving away over her next novel, she enjoys expressing herself with off-the-wall crafts and trying her hand at party planning.

While in college, Michelle’s first grown-up job was in a medical office, where decided she loved working with people so much she changed her major from drafting and design to nursing. It wasn’t until her toddler son occupied the television constantly that she discovered the amazing world of romance novels. Soon after reading over 180 books in a year, she decided to dive into trying her own hand at writing her first novel, and she hasn’t looked back. After years of rejection, in 2012 she self-published
Rock the Heart
, her tenth full-length novel written, and it hit the
New York Times
. Her subsequent books have gone on to list multiple times on both the
New York Times
and
USA Today
bestseller lists.

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