Chapter 33

33

Iona

T yrion really thought he could keep me away from my baby.

I’d been missing her so much. It was just as much torture watching Summer Rose on camera as it was watching him with Evenie. She’d been my baby for so long. It wasn’t fair that he ruined our relationship just like he ruined us.

In the weeks before I stopped going to work, she always smiled at me and hugged me in the morning. She told me how much she missed me, and I told her how much I missed her. I would take her in my office, where we would have our usual morning drinks, followed by our own little dance party just like we did on the way to school.

I made her promise not to tell her daddy because he would get mad at her. As much as she loved her father, the last thing she ever wanted was for him to be upset with her. So she kept our secret.

It had been two weeks since I saw her.

While, I would never hurt her, I needed her daddy to see that we could be happy together still. I was willing to forgive him if he did one little thing for me. I didn’t want to hurt him, but I would.

I kept two cars behind Mrs. Lewis, in the cash car I’d bought, as they drove into town. Because I had been around so long, I knew that old bat’s routine too. Today, she was headed to the pharmacy to pick up her medication.

I bypassed the building as she pulled into the parking lot. After circling the block, I pulled in and parked a few spaces down from her. Going into my armrest, I grabbed a skull cap and pulled it on my head, tucking my hair up under it. I then hooked a cloth mask around my ears to cover my nose and mouth and got out of the car.

Walking inside, I could see Mrs. Lewis at the counter, talking to the pharmacist. Summer stood next to her, rummaging through the bins of penny candy. She turned around just as I made it to the end of the aisle off to the side of them. Pulling down my mask, I showed her my face. Hers lit up, and she grinned, waving at me. She vacated her grandmother’s side, and came to me, hugging me tightly.

“Ms. Iona!” she said in a whisper. “I missed you.”

“I missed you too, baby. I’m so sorry I haven’t seen you.”

“It’s okay. I haven’t been to school.” She took a step back and hung her head. “Daddy said it’s not safe to talk to you, Ms. Iona. Did you do something bad?”

“Daddy is just a little mad at me right now. It’s okay. We’re gonna be a family again very soon.”

She frowned. “But how? Mommy and Daddy said we’re a family. Daddy gave her a ring.”

The anger in me almost jumped out. “That doesn’t mean anything,” I said through gritted teeth. “Your Daddy loves me—”

“But he loves Mommy—”

“No, he doesn’t!”

My voice rose, and it caused most everyone to look back.

“Ma’am, is there a problem?” the pharmacist asked.

Mrs. Lewis reached a hand out for Summer, and when she felt nothing, she looked down. Her head whipped around, and when she saw me, she sprinted in our direction.

“Get the hell away from my granddaughter!” she yelled.

I snatched Summer to me and pulled out the gun tucked into my pants. “Back your ass up!” I yelled at her.

She raised her hands in surrender. “We can talk about this, Iona.”

“There is nothing to talk about! Your son is trying to keep me away from her!”

“She’s his daughter—”

“I was supposed to be her mom! Me. I’m the one that read her bedtime stories. I took her to and from school. I did her hair. I learned everything there was to know about this child—”

“And I commend you for that. You were great to Summer when you and Tyrion were together.”

“I’ve loved and cared for her for four years. He can’t just ruin everything we built for that bitch!”

“Watch your mouth in front of my grandbaby. The fact is, he wanted to be with his wife, and that was his right. They shared a life before we ever knew you existed, and that life was taken from them. I’m sorry you got hurt, but don’t make this any harder on yourself than it has to be. There is a restraining order on you, Iona. You can’t be anywhere near her. Let her go before someone gets hurt.”

I laughed. “I wouldn’t hurt Summer. I love her.” I stooped down to Summer. “You know I love you, don’t you, baby? You know I would never hurt you, right?”

Tears streamed down her face. “I want my mommy and daddy!”

I frowned. “I’m gonna be your mommy. Your daddy and I are gonna be together and we are gonna live happily ever—”

“No!”

Summer tried to pull away from me the same time that her grandmother lunged at me. The gun went off, and Mrs. Lewis stumbled backward, holding her side. Silence fell upon the room as people ducked for cover. Blood began seeping through Mrs. Lewis’s fingers. She collapsed to the floor, and Summer screamed.

“Mimi!”

She tried to get to her, but I grabbed her up and hightailed it out of the pharmacy, while she and others screamed for me to put her down. As I passed the window, I could see people crowding around Mrs. Lewis and the pharmacist on the phone. I sprinted to my car with her fighting me the whole way.

“I want my Mimi! Please!”

Opening the back door, I put her inside, with her clawing at my face.

“Stop it, Summer!” I yelled, smacking her across the face.

She looked at me in disbelief, tears streaming down her cheeks.

“I’m sorry, baby,” I said softly. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it. I swear I didn’t.”

“You hurt my Mimi! I hate you! I want my mommy and daddy!”

Ignoring her pleas, I put the child locks on and closed the door. Jumping in the driver’s seat, I cranked up and peeled out of the parking lot. It wasn’t my intention to shoot the old woman. She ran at me, and my finger slipped on the trigger.

“Shit! Shit! Shit!” I cursed, beating the steering wheel.

Tyrion would never forgive me if his mother died. Hopefully, someone called her ass an ambulance.

As I dipped and dodged the cars in traffic, Summer sat behind me, screaming and crying. She started kicking the seat, and the next thing I felt was her hitting me in the back of my head. She snatched off my skull cap and commenced to pulling my hair.

“Let me go!” she screamed. “I want my mommy and daddy!”

I had to pull over into an abandoned parking lot, throwing the car in park. Grabbing my bag from the floor, I fished out the tape I brought with me. Climbing out of the car, I opened the back door, only to have Summer punch me in the eye.

“Help!” she screamed.

I had to pull back on my anger. I really didn’t want to hurt her, but she wasn’t going to keep beating my ass. Throwing my body over hers, I pinned her down while I bound her hands and feet and covered her mouth. I placed her on the floor of the car and climbed out.

“I don’t want to hurt you, Summer,” I said calmly. “You’re gonna make me wreck acting like this. Just calm your nerves!”

I slammed the door and took a deep breath as I paced back and forth in front of the car. In the distance, I could hear police and ambulance sirens. I had to get the hell out of here. This hadn’t been part of the plan, but fuck it. I was in too deep now. I just needed a little time to regroup and figure out my next move.