Fated for Pitch Black Read online

  “She feeling any better?” I ask as I get close enough.

  “Yeah, your mamma is feeling better,” he says, slapping a hand on my shoulder.

  “That’s good so which one of my favorites did she make?” I quiz, wondering if it’s the favorite meal him and I share a love for or the one he hates eating.

  “Shrimp creole.” He grins.

  “Good thing I’m starving,” I chuckle, patting a hand on my stomach knowing if she made shrimp creole, she made enough to feed an army and I’ll end up taking some back to the clubhouse with me.

  “Mon beau,” my mamma says in greeting as I enter the kitchen to find her standing at the stove. I have always been amazed at how small she is. Yet the air around her is larger than life.

  “Mamma.” Making it to her, I swoop her in for a hug lifting her feet clear off the floor.

  “Pit, put your mamma down,” my pops mutters as he enters the room behind me.

  “Oh hush, Fury. I haven’t seen mon beau in well over a week,” Mamma says, swatting at his arm as I release her.

  “Yeah and you’ve been chomping at the bit for him to come over to talk with him.”

  Furrowing a brow, I’m back to wondering if it was a good idea to come over. “What did you want to talk to me about?” I ask, cautiously.

  “Sit, eat and I’ll tell you,” she orders. I may be a big motherfucker but when Ela Corbin tells you to sit your ass down you do as she says.

  Taking a seat at the table, I accept the plate she hands to me with a thanks and dive in while waiting for her and pops.

  “What I’m going to tell you mon beau isn’t easy for me, I promised I’d never bring it up unless the time ever came. I didn’t think it would come, not after all this time.”

  “Just spit it out, mamma,” I grumble, tensing at what she’s about to say.

  “You remember when Angelina and you were dating and how you two were waiting until the day she was able to finally move in with you, I always said give it time it would all work out in the end?”

  “Why are you bringing Angelina up?”

  “Because Peirce, it’s time and the two of you need to heal the space keeping you apart.” At my mamma’s announcement, I drop the fork, slide my chair back, and stand.

  “That isn’t going to happen, Mamma,” I snarl.

  “Mon beau, listen to me,” she argues.

  “Sorry, Mamma, on this I won’t listen to you,” I growl, turning on my heel and storming out the door.

  Straddling my bike, I lift the kick stand up and hit the throttle. This day just keeps getting better and better. Fuckin’ Angelina swirling around me everywhere I go.

  Pointing in the direction opposite of the clubhouse, I head for New Orleans and somewhere I can release my pent-up frustrations.

  Chapter Four

  Angelina

  Throughout the rest of my three days off work, I spent lounging around the house, making sure to clean, and prepare for the next set of days on at work, meaning cooking enough meals for Carson to have that all Lyrica has to do is heat them up for him.

  Lyrica, had thankfully moved in next door, before she did, I was having to ask Mrs. Wilson, an elderly woman who lived across the street. Once I met Lyrica, she and I hit it off. After she found out I was having to get Mrs. Wilson to watch my son she immediately offered to take over. I took her up on the offer and it’s worked out ever since. With Ly’s flexible hours the two of us were able to set up a schedule where she was working on the days I had off. She’s my only friend and I couldn’t be more thankful for her entering our lives.

  Carson enjoys hanging out with Lyrica, says she’s flipping awesome. She’s teaching him how to draw and takes him to the park on the days I can’t to ride his skateboard.

  For some reason I dread leaving Carson today. I don’t know what it is. The sense of someone watching us hasn’t let up and I wish I knew.

  Knocking on the front door interrupts my thoughts. Frowning, I wonder who it could be. I was dropping Carson off with Lyrica at the tattoo shop and she was going to take him home with her when she got off.

  “Mom, it’s a Mr. Ballard,” Carson calls out my name from the living room. He knows I prefer him not to open the door without me knowing who it is. Doesn’t matter if he asks them who it is through the door or not. I guess you can say I’m overprotective.

  “I’m coming, buddy,” I say heading in his direction as I pull my hair up into a ponytail. “Go ahead and get your stuff together to head out.”

  “Okay,” he nods and heads toward the back of the small house to get his stuff.

  Opening the door, I instantly wish I didn’t as the door is shoved all the way open and a man I’d never seen before steps through. “You should have known to expect me,” Ballard sneers, slamming the door behind him.

  “I have nothing for you or him,” I stammer stepping backwards, away from him. Yeah, I know who he is now after hearing his voice.

  “That’s not true, you do have something, it’s just a matter of us taking it from you. He’s allowed you too much of a string, it’s time to pull back on the reins. Now where did the brat go,” he demands, and I know exactly why he’s here.

  Panic hits and I scream out for Carson to run. I know it’s probably stupid to do; however, I also knew there wasn’t any way for me to stop what’s coming.

  Pain radiates through my scalp as Ballard grips my hair and yanks me backward into his body.

  “Mom,” Carson yells from the back door.

  “Come here, boy,” Ballard orders, snatching me to him even harder.

  “Carson, do as I’ve always told you to do if need be,” I say, tears filling my eyes.

  I can see the apprehension in my son’s gaze, he doesn’t want to leave me, but he nods, turns on his heel and rushes out the backdoor to go to the one place I know he’ll be safe.

  “You are one stupid bitch to think we won’t catch up with him,” Ballard sneers, using his freehand to grip me by the throat, tight enough I’m not able to respond to him. “My men probably already have him by now.”

  God, I hope not.

  “For now, I’ll take the time and savor making you pay. As it stands now, he doesn’t really want you anymore, not really, more or less he’s giving you away, to me in fact. But I have to say, bitch, you’re not my taste, considering how fucking skinny you are.” Cringing at his words as he slides his nose down my cheek to my neck inhaling. “However, I will enjoy abusing you in other ways, starting now.”

  Releasing my neck, he sends me sailing across the room tumbling into the wall. No, this isn’t going to happen it can’t. Gaining my balance, I turn to the back door, in order to try to make a run for it. Ballard, unfortunately, doesn’t allow this as he blocks my attempt with another wrenching of my hair, this time sending me flying into the coffee table hitting my hip as I fall to the floor.

  “You are definitely one stupid bitch. How you became a doctor, I’ve no fuckin’ clue,” Ballard cackles, eyes like lasers as he prowls toward me.

  “Go ahead and kill me if that’s what you’re going to do,” I murmur, tears streaming down my face as I pray that by some miracle my son makes it to the one person who will keep him safe.

  “Killing you would be too simple and go against my plans.” He grins as he kneels next to me. “No, I have bigger plans for you that boss man agrees with.”

  Terror consumes me as Ballard reaches out and grabs me by the neck again. “Say goodnight,” he commands once more before everything goes dark.

  Carson

  Leaving my mom the way I did doesn’t sit well with me. She’s my mom. The only person I’ve always had in my life. I wanted to stay and help her, but she always warned me if something ever happened, I was to go find him. Explain what I knew.

  Mom being who she is never lied to me, not once, I know what is going on. I know who is after us and what they want.

  Me dead. Her paying for what she did.

  I just don’t understand why they allowed
me to live this long or for my mom to get her education to become the doctor she is. It doesn’t make sense. They left us alone all this time. Why come after us now.

  Running as fast as I can, I don’t look behind me. Mom showed me where I needed to go and I’m heading that way. I only hope he’ll help. Mom says he hates her for what she did, what she allowed to happen, but I hope for me, as his son, he’ll help me get her back.

  I know she loves him. When I was younger, she would tell me stories about the big powerful man who helped the princess feel safe during the time they were allowed. I’m not stupid enough not to realize it’s their story she was telling me.

  Turning down the road I come to the gates and stop as a man comes out of them.

  “Can I help you kid?” he asks, giving me a curious eye.

  Panting, I look up at the man with wild eyes. “I need to see my dad, Pitch Black. I’m Carson Peirce Corbin.”

  Chapter Five

  Pitch Black

  After a night like last night, I shouldn’t feel this tense. I’d gone to see Marcus Patton, a friend of the club’s, about getting in on one of the fights for the night.

  Knowing who I am, Marcus had no problem in making sure I got in on one.

  Sitting at the bar, I flex my fingers examining my fist. It had been good to fight again, shit I’d even earned five thousand dollars last night in bets and fucked one of the ring bitches against the lockers afterward.

  I thought fighting last night would get rid of the tension consuming me, but my mind keeps fuckin’ with me. I barely slept when I got back to the clubhouse and this morning, I woke up in more of a foul mood than usual. Which fuckin’ pisses me off since we’re supposed to be having a family cookout day and I’m not going to be able to get out of it.

  “What’s going on with you?” Lynch asks coming to sit beside me, slapping my shoulder.

  Shaking my head, I motion to Shock to grab me a beer. I needed something.

  “Fuck, Pit, it’s not even nine yet and you’re already starting to drink for the day,” Lynch states the obvious as Shock places the beer on the bar top.

  Shrugging, I lift the beer to my mouth and swallow. “It’s five somewhere,” I mutter, placing the bottle on the bar.

  “Yeah, but you don’t ever drink this fuckin’ early what the hell’s up with you?” Lynch is more than my club brother, he’s my blood maybe as my cousin but we grew up together and are more like siblings.

  “Irritated is all. Mamma wanted to fuckin’ talk about Angelina last night,” I sneer, not wanting to even say her name.

  “Fuck, Pit. Why would Mamma want to do that?” he asks, after my aunt Scarlett signed over her rights to my dad, he started calling my mom his. When Mamma asked him about it, he said ‘You cook food for me, buy clothes for Harlow and me, you help with my homework that makes you my mamma.’

  “Who knows why she wanted to,” I shrug. “I left before she could explain. Angelina is in the fuckin’ past and the fact that she seems to be shoved down my throat lately is pissing me the fuck off.”

  “I don’t blame you. Not after what the bitch did.” Lynch nods. “Heard she’s got a kid.”

  Fuckin’ hell that’s another thing I don’t need to think about. As they say denial is bliss.

  Yeah.

  I’m not trying to deal with that shit right now.

  Kid belongs to the fucker she played me for.

  Lifting my beer, I chug the rest of it and put the bottle on the bar signaling for Shock to get me another. As he places it in front of me, the front door opens, Frame steps in holding the door for someone.

  “Yo, Pit, got someone here who needs to see you,” Frame calls out. My body stiffens as the ‘someone’ comes into view. Fuck it’s the kid from yesterday who was with Angelina.

  With his height he doesn’t seem to be a kid but when he lifts his head to meet my gaze, I’m gutted by what I see.

  Motherfucker.

  “Holy shit,” Lynch says from behind me.

  “What’s going on?” Chains asks, coming into the room. “Oh shit.”

  “Pitch Black?” the kid asks looking directly at me. Eyes like my own seem to bore into me.

  “What’s it to you kid?” I say, trying to keep a rein on my anger.

  “Name’s Carson.”

  One. Two. Three. Four.

  The bitch fuckin’ gave the kid a name we’d picked.

  “Cool name, what are you doing here? Sure, your mamma doesn’t want you around the likes of us.” I barely keep the bitterness out of my voice.

  “I . . . I need your help. My mom, she, um, we are in trouble. She always said if something happened to her and I was able to get away, to come find you. When we moved here, she made sure I knew how to get here from our house or wherever I was,” Carson says hastily.

  She did what?

  “Why the hell would she do that, kid?” I demand.

  “Because you’re my dad and though you hate her you won’t let them kill me. Please, don’t let them take my mom. They’ll kill her.” Fuckin’ hell.

  “Who’s gonna kill her?” Chains asks, alert to what Carson just said.

  Shit. This is my kid. However, to be one hundred percent certain, I’m about to make sure.

  Unable to think much of anything else, I close the distances between Carson and myself. “Lift your wrist,” I rasp.

  Carson nods his head and does just what I ask him to do, turning his wrist up showing me the unique birthmark that matches my own. All the men on my dad’s side have the same birthmark on the inside of our wrist. “Mom told me we had the same markings.”

  “Yeah, kid, we got the same markings. We’ll get to that shit later, now who’s gonna kill your mom?” I mutter. As much as I don’t want to deal with Angelina, this is my fuckin’ kid and I’m not about to let him be motherless. I also want fuckin’ answers to the reason why I didn’t know anything about Carson. Doesn’t matter I hate the woman, she had no right to keep the kid from me.

  “I don’t know his name but he was sent by the Callaghans or Deveauxs.” I furrow my brows at the mention of both names.

  This shit is confusing the fuck out of me.

  “Look, we’ll worry about that shit later. Brother, let’s go check on Carson’s mom. Give us your address,” Chains states taking control of the situation.

  Carson gives us his address. I’m confused even more now. Angelina comes from money why isn’t she living in a better area rather than the low-income neighborhood up the road from the clubhouse. Shit the woman is a doctor, she could afford to buy somewhere more decent.

  “Stay here, kid,” I tell him, storming out of the clubhouse. Soon as I’m straddling my bike, I lift the kickstand and hit the throttle.

  Getting to Angelina’s house, I stalk right up to the front porch and through the open doorway. I don’t know what I expected but finding blood smears and furniture knocked over was not it. Maybe somewhere in the back of my head this was the woman’s way of fucking with me more.

  “Shit,” I sneer, following the blood trail from the kitchen to the front door. Blood was also on the floor by the secondhand coffee table. Clenching my fist at my side, my hatred intensifies more and not toward Angelina but rather what has happened to her.

  Slamming my fist into the wall it goes through the drywall.

  “Easy, Pit. Let’s get back to the club see if we can’t get Fuse to start looking. We’ll find her,” Chains says, placing a hand on my shoulder.

  “Yeah, brother, I’ll get on it, soon as we get back,” Fuse nods.

  “What are you guys. . . Oh my God. What did you do to Lina?” My head spins around to the open front door to find Lyrica standing there.

  “What the fuck are you doing here?” I snarl.

  “Why the fuck are you here?” Fuse growls at the same time getting in Lyrica’s face.

  She’d been living with him for a while when she first moved here with Faith but moved out not to long ago. Now here she is standing here in Angelina’s
doorway looking at us with horror in her eyes.

  “She was supposed to drop Carson off with me. I live next door and watch him while she works. Oh God, where’s Carson? What did you do?” Shit, Lyrica knows my son. Knows Angelina.

  “Carson’s at the clubhouse,” I growl, unable to keep the furious tone out of my voice.

  “Why is he there?” she asks, her eyes widen as they lift to meet my own. “Oh God, it’s you. You’re the one she was telling me about.”

  “What?” Chains demands.

  Without another word Lyrica spins on her heels and runs. My brothers and I right behind her. Fuse snags her arm. “What the hell’s wrong with you?” he sneers, looking as if he were about to blow.

  “Let me go, Fuse. I-I need to get something from my house. Something Pitch Black will want to see,” Lyrica says frantically.

  “Fine, but I’m coming with you,” Fuse says without taking his hand off her arm as they go into her house.

  “Brother, what do you think is going on here?” Chains asks as he stands in front of me, arms crossed over his chest.

  “Don’t know but I don’t have a good feeling about it,” I mutter, shaking my head.

  “Neither do I,” he grumbles, lifting his head to look up at the cloudy sky.

  Not a good sign.

  “Here,” Lyrica says, holding out a large manila envelope to me. “I thought she was kidding but she asked me to hold on to this for her as a precautionary measure.”

  Shit.

  Furrowing my brows, I take the envelope from her and open it. Pulling out the papers, I scan through them. First being a DNA test proving Carson is mine. How she has my DNA I don’t have a fuckin’ clue. Next is Carson’s birth certificate.

  Carson Peirce Corbin.

  Angelina even gave my son my name.

  What the hell has she gotten herself into?

  Flipping through pages, noticing it’s her will. The last page is a letter addressed to me in her handwriting. Lifting the paper up, I scan over it only to have to stop and read through it a hell of a lot slower.