Karma Read online

  Karma

  Sandrine Gasq-Dion

  Dedication

  To my loyal readers at LRO, thank you for your patience.

  My loyal FB family and readers; I love you all.

  Jenjo, for her hours of editing and being there.

  Sidney Lowell for the cover

  Copyright 2016

  The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions, and do not participate in or encourage the electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the author's rights is appreciated. This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Start the ride from the beginning with: A Marked Man; Alaska with Love; By the light of the Moon; Half Moon Rising; Best Laid Plans; For the Love of Caden; The General’s Lover; Russian Prey; An Ignited Passion; Reflash; The Red Zone; Irish Wishes; Pleading the Fifth ; Betrayed; Summer of Awakenings; Into the Lyons Den; The Nik of Time and The Littlest Assassin-Shifters; Lessons Learned; Broken Bonds and Forbidden; Dirty Ross; Savage Love and Locke and Key

  The 12 Olympians: Justice for Skylar; At Year's End; Lux Ex Tenebris; Strange Addiction and Ryde the Lightning

  From Wilde City Publishing: A Betting Man; A Marrying Man; A Fighting Man; A Working Man and A Healing Man

  The Medicine and The Mob; An Eye For an Eye and The Harder they Fall

  The Rock Series: FRET; Jinxed and Harley's Achilles

  And, Second Time Around and Gabriel's Fall

  Join me on my Facebook pages! https://www.facebook.com/authorsandrine.g.dion

  https://www.facebook.com/pages/Official-Sandrine-Gasq-Dion/137320826386776?ref=hl

  @Sandrine_GasqD

  Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter One

  Stefan Santorno Youngblood leaned against the deck overlooking the back yard, reveling in another fabulous sunrise. Paul Greystone, Josh Reynolds, Mark Andrews, Tanner McKinley and Jay Reynolds were recuperating from an attempt on their life by a crazed asshole. It appeared they would make full recoveries physically, but it would take time — and who knew how long it would take to recover psychologically? The aforementioned asshole, Daniel, had been friends with the older guys back in the day, but then Daniel decided rape — preferably of minors — was his newest game and the guys turned their backs on him. Not to mention they also tried to have him charged with an assault he had committed, but the police investigation had gone nowhere.

  Paul had been the one to finally end Daniel’s life and Stefan and Jordan, and some friends in high places, had made sure Paul didn’t see a day in jail. It helped considerably that Paul had actually been defending himself at the time of the death.

  Stefan lifted his face to the sun. Strong arms wrapped around his waist and he leaned back into his husband. Jordan Youngblood was the glue that kept him from spilling his paternal family’s mob side all over the damn place — and that side was harder to resist with every attempt to harm his extended family.

  “Good morning.” Jordan nuzzled Stefan’s neck. “Robert called.”

  “Good news?”

  “That depends. Can you keep Heath from becoming a Santorno?”

  “He already is one, Jordan. My blood runs through his veins. We can’t promise anything.”

  “They found the adoptive parents who gave up little Stefan.”

  “Heath knows?”

  “He and Caleb are on their way down to see them.”

  “Christ.” Stefan blew out a breath. “Let’s hope they have plenty of bleach.”

  ~*~

  Ever since Heath’s toddler son landed on Jordan and Stefan’s doorstep while he and Caleb were on their honeymoon, the circumstances of the child’s life since his birth had troubled them all. The birth mother — with whom Heath had sex one time in high school (with an apparently faulty condom) had given the child up for adoption with the stipulation that he be named Stefan. She wanted nothing else to do with him. The couple who adopted the baby recently returned him to Child Protective Services claiming he was too much to handle and his crying fits were interrupting their sleep. Stefan’s pediatric exam found him to be malnourished and behind schedule on several intellectual levels, but no one knew the extent of any psychological damage.

  Robert Stevens kept his promise. The judge, a former district attorney who was married to Stefan’s ex-boyfriend Morgan Stevens, told Caleb and Heath Youngblood to meet him at the police station. The former adoptive couple had been charged with identity theft.

  Heath watched them through the window of the interrogation room, his blood already boiling.

  “Maybe you should stay out here.” Caleb took his hand.

  Robert eyed Heath. “Caleb’s probably got a good idea.” Heath’s mouth opened in protest. “Just for now, Heath,” Robert assured him.

  He sat down in a chair and sighed as he dropped his folded hands between his spread knees.

  Robert took Caleb aside. “Promise me you won’t kill them.”

  “Not here,” Caleb replied tersely.

  “Caleb …”

  “I’ll do my best.” Robert looked doubtful. “It’s the best I can do. We’re talking about what those people might have done to our son.” Robert nodded slowly.

  Caleb entered the room accompanied by two detectives and sat down. He eyed the couple dispassionately. The woman was dirty, in obvious need of a shower, and the man needed that and a shave.

  “What’s this about? We know our rights!” she yelled at Caleb.

  “Shut up!” Caleb snapped. “Right now, all I want from you is an explanation as to what happened to the child you adopted.”

  The woman opened her mouth and then shut it. “I want a lawyer.”

  Caleb stood up, and leaned over into their faces. “Talk. Now. And I want the truth or so help me, you will spend the rest of your lives wondering when I will kill you. And I will. You can count on it. Or, you can get your lawyer and worry about who will kill you first — me, or the people in prison who deplore child abusers. And I have friends in low places.”

  The woman shot a look at her husband. She fidgeted in the chair and Caleb managed to look even more menacing.

  “I’m not a patient man,” he snarled.

  One officer asked whether she still wanted a lawyer.

  “No. We thought we could handle a child,” she began babbling. “We both had good jobs. But when we got him as a newborn he cried a lot and we hardly got any sleep. The older he got, the worse it got. We started putting him in the basement where we couldn’t hear him.”

  The husband seemed content to let his wife hang them both.

  Caleb clenched his fists and exhaled slowly. “Keep going.”

  “When we lost our jobs, we had to go job hunting. We figure
d Stefan would sleep, so we left him in the basement while we went out. We didn’t have a lot of money so we ate when we could. We couldn’t afford diapers for a while and then they turned the electricity off.”

  “So let me get this straight: you put a helpless infant in the basement, in the dark, with no food and left him in a dirty diaper. Is that about right?” A frayed thread held his temper.

  “We couldn’t afford anything!”

  “You should have known there are charities that would have helped.”

  “I couldn’t take his crying … and … I …” she swallowed hard.

  “You hit him?” Caleb’s face went dark.

  “I tried to shut him up! There were nights I wanted to take him outside and leave him there!” she spat defiantly.

  The door to the room slammed open and Heath fairly flew through the door.

  “You sick, twisted bitch!” he shouted.

  The woman’s eyes went wide. “You … you look just like him!”

  “That’s because he’s my son!” Heath jumped at her but Caleb held him back. “I want you DEAD! I swear to God, I’ll make you pay, you BITCH!” He swung his gaze to the man. “And you. You pathetic excuse for a man! Not only did you not stop the abuse, you aren’t even taking any of the blame!”

  It took every ounce of strength Caleb had to hold Heath back. He’d never seen him so angry. His eyes were black and Caleb knew if he let him go, he’d tear them both up.

  “Robert!” he shouted, struggling to hold onto his husband as the officers in the room approached them in slow motion.

  Robert, two additional officers and an assistant district attorney strode through the door. He assessed the situation and consulted with the ADA. “Arrest them both, not only for identity theft but for child endangerment, neglect, abuse and throw some other shit in there. I don’t care if you make shit up as long as they stay locked up for a long fucking time.”

  Before the man could be cuffed, Caleb grabbed the front of his shirt and punched him, laying him out on the floor. He turned his rage onto the woman as she cowered. “I won’t hit a woman, even you, but there are women in prison who love the fresh meat of child abusers,” Caleb sneered at her.

  “He hit me!’ The man was trying to stop the blood pouring from his nose.

  “I didn’t see anything.” Robert raised his brows at the cops. “Did you guys see anything?”

  All four shook their heads. “Nope, not a thing, Judge Stevens. He looks pretty clumsy, though.”

  The police cuffed and removed them and Heath collapsed on the floor. “Oh my God!”

  Caleb sat beside him. “We will fix this, Heath. We love him and no one will ever hurt him again. I promise. I’ll die protecting Stefan.”

  “How could they? My son! Look what they did to my son!” Heath broke down in sobs. Caleb held him while he wept on his chest, his own heart breaking for little Stefan. Caleb let Heath cry, holding him until the hiccups subsided and then lifting his face.

  “Let’s get home, okay?” Caleb helped him up and wiped his eyes.

  As soon as they walked in the door little Stefan ran to his father. “DADDY!”

  Heath picked him up and hugged him tightly. “I’m here, little one. Daddy loves you so much.” Heath plastered his small face with kisses.

  Stefan entered the room and eyed his son with Stefan. “How did it go?” He looked from Caleb to Heath and noticed Caleb’s wet eyes. “Oh God, that bad?”

  “Daddy Too!”

  Caleb took Stefan and Heath into his embrace. “Daddy Too loves you so much, Stefan. So much.” Caleb kissed Stefan and then his husband.

  They gathered around the table with coffee and little Stefan fell asleep on Heath’s shoulder.

  “You want me to put him in his crib?” Stefan began to rise.

  “No, I want him right here with me.” Heath hugged the child to his chest.

  Jordan came into the room and filled his mug. He sat down, folded his hands and eyed his children. “Well, tell us.”

  Heath and Caleb barely managed to get out the story of the couple and their treatment of Stefan. “I don’t know why they didn’t bring him to child services earlier,” Caleb wondered, shaking his head. “They obviously weren’t parent material. I can only assume they enjoyed what they did.” Bile rose in his throat.

  He told them about the nights the helpless infant spent crying in a dark basement with no one there to comfort him, undoubtedly surrounded by insects and other dangerous things, left alone for hours at a time with barely any food, wearing a dirty diaper and physically abused.

  Stefan’s anger exploded, and he had to excuse himself. Jordan found him on the deck, beating the shit out of the deck rail.

  “Stefan…”

  “I want them DEAD, do you hear me?” Stefan roared.

  Jordan had seen that face exactly three times during their marriage, and each time it terrified him. “Stefan …”

  “Oh, I know!” He paced around the deck, and pulled his cell phone out. “Let me speak to Warden Jones, tell him Damon Santorno’s son is on the line.”

  Jordan listened as Stefan told the warden exactly what he wanted for the new prisoners; he hung up and shot a look at Jordan.

  “How’s that then? I didn’t kill them.”

  “I won’t complain; it’s fitting.” Jordan nodded.

  “Good.” Stefan sat down, shoulders slumped.

  Jordan crouched in front of him. “I know you’re angry, Stefan, and I am, too. You just have to be so careful. You’ve come so close to crossing the line; it scares me sometimes.”

  Stefan palmed his face and tried to smile. “I know, and I’m sorry.”

  “Look, I love you and I will back you up one hundred percent every time, but you have got to hang on to the side of you that I love so much. It’s such a tiny step over to that dark side of no return.”

  “No matter what, Jordan, I am a Santorno — and so is Heath. We’ve had this conversation.”

  “Well, right now, I want to talk to Stefan Youngblood.” Jordan palmed his face.

  “He’s here, just fighting his way past Stefano Santorno.” Stefan smiled and kissed Jordan softly.

  “Well, can I make love to Stefan later?”

  “Oh yes, I think Stefan would like that.”

  *~~~*

  Dr. Charlie Youngblood and her patient, Michael, were playing Scrabble. She’d finished her shift, but had promised to visit him. She eyed him while he studied his tiles.

  “I don’t know why you keep taking your time, it’s just going to be something sexual again.” Charlie tapped her fingers on the table.

  “Shh … it took a lot of effort for me to come up with ‘dick.’”

  “Oh and let’s see.” Charlie studied the board. “We have vagina, cock, prick, pussy and, my personal favorite, dildo.”

  “I almost couldn’t get that one. I waited a long time for an ‘I’.”

  Charlie rolled her eyes. “Sex deprived?”

  “Well, yeah. My last girlfriend dumped me when she found out I had a tumor. It kind of kills the mood. Gee, I wonder why? So that was … a year ago.”

  “You haven’t had sex in a year?”

  “My hand and I are very happy together, thank you.” Michael smiled. “And it doesn’t talk back. Although it does slap me around a bit when I’ve been bad.”

  “Jesus …” Charlie laughed and she looked at the board again. “You got something or what?”

  “Hmmm. Ah, wait for it.” Michael took the tiles and put them down, grinning.

  “Really? The best you could come up with was ‘fuck’?”

  “No, but I wanted to hear you say it.” Michael laughed and lay back in the bed.

  “Okay, smart ass. I have to go. I have a plane to catch for a wedding.”

  “Who’s getting married?”

  “My brothers. Well, they already got married, but this one is for the family.”

  “Do you like your sisters-in-law?”

  “Actuall
y, I love my brothers-in-law.”

  Michael raised his brows. “Oooh, that sounds hot! A little guy-on-guy action. Can you take videos?”

  “Michael!” Charlie spluttered.

  “And pictures. Lots and lots of them.”

  Charlie pulled out her ID card. Behind it was a family photo. “Here, this is us last time we were all together.”

  Michael looked at the photo, and whistled. “Damn! You all are gorgeous. Where’s Mom?”

  “No mom; two dads.”

  “Really? That’s so cool.” Michael looked more closely at the pictures. “Wow, sexy guys!” Michael waggled his eyebrows.

  “Okay, you sex-crazed maniac, I’m off. See you in a couple days.” Charlie smiled as she stopped at the door. “Try not to throw Jell-O at people.”

  “I’m not making any promises!”

  After Charlie left, Michael settled back in bed. It was obvious she didn’t remember him, but why should she? They hadn’t seen each other since he was — what? Maybe eleven at the most. He smiled and looked at the ceiling. This was going to be fun.

  *~~~*

  The house was filled with laughter the day of the wedding. Stefan and Jordan were trying to get the buffet arranged, and the cake had finally arrived. Damon and Tyler were in the bathroom getting ready, and Heath and Caleb were in their bedroom with little Stefan. Morgan had arrived with Robert and the rest of the kids drifted in two by two. Longtime friend Steve Soloman and Charlie hung out at the kitchen table talking with Isabelle and her husband, Jacob. Their child, Lucy, was squirming to get loose.

  “Well hello, darlings. Let me have that one.” Angela Santorno reached for Lucy, who went giggling into her great-great-aunt’s arms. “Hello, lovely one.”

  Security experts Antonio and Marco arrived with Damon Santorno, and there were polite but tense hellos between Angela and her brother Damon. Heath and Caleb exited the room with Stefan, and Damon got a good look at the child.

  “Oh look at him! He looks just like Stefano!” Damon smiled and regarded the tiny replica of his son.