Confession of a King

We sat in the living room with all of the shades pulled down on the windows. The giant television on the wall was turned off, allowing the room to be filled with silence. I sat with a fluffy, black blanket wrapped around my body, freezing with the air conditioning pumping through the house. Zacky was to my right, resting his left ankle on his knee, his glasses on his face and his attention engulfed in his phone. Christ was in a bean bag, his eyes closed and mouth gaped open, small snores falling from his lips. Corey was to the left of me, a little further down the couch, his brows furrowed as he read over the phone records in his hands. Brian was on the floor, playing with Alec.

“A call is coming in,” Zacky announced, causing everyone’s head, with the except of Christ’s to turn in his direction. “No talking… five… four… three… two… one…”

The phone was answered and a smooth voice, Behemoth’s voice, answered, “This better be important. I’m balls deep in a slut right now.”

“My source said she had the kid,” a voice I recognized, but couldn’t put my finger on, answered the phone. “They saw a photo of it in Shadows’ room. Her in the hospital bed with the little bastard in her arms.”

“Interesting,” Behemoth responded to the man. “Any sight of her?”

“She came by a couple weeks ago to see him,” they responded. “She quit her job because she’s going to be representing him in court alongside Gates.”

“That little bitch,” Behemoth growled. “That’s in two days and they have her under lock and key. There’s no way I can take her out in time.”

A laugh came through the phone, “Go undercover and snipe her on her way into the courtroom.”

“Too risky and the cops would kill him before he would get out the door. If he’s dying it’s by my hands only,” Behemoth stated, sending a shiver down my spine. “Once I’m done fucking this bitch I will regroup with my men. We will wait until after the trial to make our move.”

“What if he gets cut loose?” the voice questioned.

“Your source will let the courts know that Ivy is fucking him and she’s discredited. He’ll be thrown back in and I’ll pay him a visit with her blood on my hands,” Behemoth chuckled. “Now, thank you for the information but this conversation is over. Keep an ear out and I’ll wire you the five thousand once I’m out of this pussy.”

The phone line went dead and I felt sick to my stomach. Brian’s eyes were fixated on me, Alec sleeping in his arms. I knew he wanted to tell me that things would be okay, but I couldn’t believe him right now. Christ had woken up partially through the conversation and looked deep in thought. Zacky stared at the phone in his hands once again while Corey looked at the ground.

“We’re throwing him off, Ivy,” Corey spoke. “Him regrouping is a good thing. It means he’s not prepared. He won’t be prepared when Shadows is a free man, either”

Zacky cleared his throat, “Do you recognize the voice?”

“I feel like I do,” I said quietly while looking at the blanket on my lap. “I will go back through my files and try to match it.”

“Things are going to be okay,” Christ spoke up. “Don’t doubt it for a second.”

I frowned, “What if he’s right, you know? About someone telling the court that I was fucking Matt and everything is ruined?”

“You and Gates have this under control, Ivy. You and Shadows can play on their emotions if it gets to that point and most likely the jury will cave. He will get out and everything will be settled,” Christ gave me a sad smile. “The minute Shadows gets out things will go back to normal and we’ll have the upper-hand. This isn’t the first time we’ve dealt with a situation like this. It’s just the first time we’ve had to do it with him in jail.”

I nodded and stood up from my seat on the couch, dropping the fluffy blanket, “I’m going to get something to eat. Does anyone want anything?”

“I’ll come with you,” Corey stood up and followed me out of the living room and into the kitchen.

I stood with my back to Corey, opening up the refrigerator and pulling out a fruit bowl I had cut up yesterday. It was filled with all of my favorites, strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, pineapple and watermelon. I thought back to that day when I was feeding watermelon to Matt in my office, when he had to be restrained and couldn’t use the fork. I closed the refrigerator and leaned against the countertop, resting the bowl down and closing my eyes. I let out a heavy exhale and swallowed, fighting any tears from surfacing in my eyes.

“Don’t think for one minute that you’re not allowed to be nervous or scared of the situation,” Corey’s voice came from behind me. “You’re human, Ivy. Your life is potentially in danger and it’s alright to cry about it.”

I turned and looked at him, he was about a foot away from me, leaning on the island. I gnawed at my bottom lip and diverted my attention back to the floor. I spoke softly, “I just feel like everyone expects me to be okay with the situation and trust that things are going to be okay. Things aren’t okay.”

“They’re all hard-asses, sweetheart,” Corey stifled a laugh. “They’ve got good poker faces, but those words they’re speaking they’re trying to convince themselves. Things aren’t okay, but just trust that we are doing the best we can and that we’ve been in this field for a long time.”

“Not every situation is the same,” I grumbled.

“Shadows is the one that wanted me to come in and take control. I’ve been in this just as long as he has and I’ve worked alongside of him to have an understanding of how he would do this if he were on the outside. He called me, pleading, to have me come out here and whip these three into shape to ensure your life. Believe me when I say that I won’t let anything happen to you.” Corey grabbed my hand and held it in his, “I owe him this, Ivy. He broke down in tears on the phone with me about you.”

“I just need him out,” I stated and snatched my hand back. “Thank you for looking out for me. I’m going to take Alec upstairs and figure out who the rat is that’s feeding Behemoth information.”

Corey stepped away from me and I grabbed the bowl of fruit, then walked into the living room. Brian still said nothing as I scooped Alec out of his arms and into mine, treading up the steps toward my room. I closed and locked the door behind myself, then placed the bowl of fruit on the nightstand to the left of the bed. I put Alec in his crib and kissed his forehead, muttering to him that in two days everything would be alright and his daddy would be here. The sleeping little boy made my heart flutter. Hunter lifted his head up when I got onto the bed with him, snuggling over to me as I pulled my laptop onto my lap.

I scanned through the files I still had on my computer from working at the prison. I was almost positive that I was supposed to delete these files because they’re no longer my property, but I knew that sooner or later they would come in handy. I clicked through the gang-involved inmates who I had dealt with, desperately hoping to find someone with a matching voice to the one on the phone. I couldn’t find anything, and then it hit me, I needed to talk with Jimmy. He would know who it would be. He knew everything. There was no way in hell I would be able to call up the prison to request to see him within the next two days. I would need a really good excuse for that, and visitation day was of course, the day of Matt’s trial.

I groaned and closed my laptop, there had to be some way to get in contact with him. I grabbed my phone and dialed Matt’s number, cursing him as it rang twice with no answer.

Right on the third ring he answered, “Hey.”

“What are you doing? Are you busy?” I asked quickly.

“Is everything okay?” Slight panic set in his voice and I laughed, then he sighed, “I’m in my cell.”

“Can you find Jimmy Sullivan and give him the phone?” I was hoping he would do as I asked, but knowing Matt, he was going to question me.

“Why?” He said flatly.

I rolled my eyes to myself and sighed, “We listened in on a conversation between someone in the prison and Behemoth earlier. I can’t find a match to the voice, but I feel like I knew it. I just wanted to know if he had any idea who may be in contact with him. They also had a source that got eyes on the photo of Alec and I in your cell, Matthew.”

I heard him breathe in sharply, “Fucking christ.” He groaned, “I’m locked in for the afternoon. I can try tomorrow. What did they say?”

“Nothing important,” I said quickly again, not wanting to get him worked up. “Keep your head on straight, Sanders.”

“What did they say Ivy?” He asked, agitated. “If you were a smart girl you’d tell me yourself before I have to get it out of Vengeance,” he nearly growled.

I rubbed my face with both of my hands, balancing the phone on my shoulder, “He’s counting on you staying locked up, and said something about paying you a visit with my blood on his hands.” I left out the majority of the conversation, as he would probably do something stupid if he knew everything.

“Let him keep that image in his head so that he’s taken by surprise when I put a bullet between his eyes,” Matt snarled. “How’s the squirt doing?”

I sighed with a smile, looking over at Alec sound asleep, “He’s sleeping. Had a long play date with Uncle Brian and is pooped out.”

“I can’t wait to hold him in two days,” Matt’s voice was now happy, I could hear the smile in it. “You sound pooped out yourself, get some sleep baby. I’ll try to get Jimmy on the phone with you tomorrow. I love you.”

“I love you too, Matty,” I hung up the phone.

I leaned back in the bed, pushing the laptop toward the side Hunter was sleeping on. My head hit the pillows and I stared up at the ceiling. I told myself over and over that things were going to be okay. Matt was going to get out. Behemoth was going to get killed. Then we could move onto bigger and better things, like buying a house and raising Alec to be a good kid. I gnawed on my lip, thinking of the conversation I wanted to have with Matt once I knew he was free. I wanted to talk to him about potentially leaving the gang world behind, but I didn’t know how he would feel about it. I could only hope it would be good. I heard a knock on my door and ignored it, figuring it was probably Brian wanting to talk to me now, or telling me that dinner was ready. I shimmied myself under the sheets and snuggled close to my pup, falling asleep for however long I could before Alec woke me up crying for food.

Notes