Jonny's Redemption (Gemini Group Book 7) by Riley Edwards (audio ebook reader TXT) 📕

insanity of the situation. And he wasn’t sure which was more insane, his mother being arrested or her grief-stricken over a man who treated her like shit, cheated on her, and had a bastard child.

He did neither. He also didn’t move. He remained rooted and fought to drag oxygen into his lungs.

How had this become his life?

The longer Jonny stood across the room from his mother in her proper black skirt and blouse, hair carefully styled, keeping up the appearance of a woman with high moral standing in the community, the more his gut tightened. Lies. More lies. Likely her eyes would be red-rimmed and it wouldn’t be because she’d been crying for her dead husband. That early in the day she would’ve started with vodka, she would’ve gone straight to the hard stuff so she could face the day. The bullshit she’d created. The false story she’d allowed her husband to make them live.

The man was dead and yet she was still covering for him. She was still choosing him. When would the time come when she chose herself? Chose him? Would she ever wake up and open her eyes to what she’d done to her son? Probably not. That wasn’t his mother. His mother had no backbone, no strength. She’d wallow in her self-pity and continue to care what her neighbors thought before she’d comfort her son.

What would the neighbors think now? Her arrest would be in the Thursday paper. The weekly county newspaper printed all arrests in the police blotter. Everyone would know Anita Spencer was charged with a DWI.

“Baker thought it was best we kept her here,” Vaughn cut into Jonny’s musings. “No reason to take her to the other side.”

The other side being the jail. There were holding cells over there. Jonny knew he should appreciate the courteous treatment the sheriff had extended his mother but he didn’t want favors. Anita had made her bed and maybe if she had to lie in it she’d understand her actions had repercussions. That was a joke; she would never learn and Jonny was tired of attempting to school her.

“Is she ready to go?”

Jonny ignored his friend’s flinch and the same went for the way Bobby squeezed his hand. He knew his tone was harsh and he no longer cared. Enough was enough. Things were going to change in ways his mother would not appreciate.

“She is,” Vaughn confirmed. “Sampson feels like shit. He didn’t want to—”

“He was doing his job and the right thing. Not only did she break the law but she could’ve hurt someone.”

“And herself.”

“Come again?”

“And she could’ve hurt herself,” Vaughn explained and Jonny’s jaw clenched.

“Right.”

Why did that no longer matter to Jonny?

Because she’d pushed him to the brink and now he was so pissed he couldn’t stand the sight of his own mother. Could his life get any worse?

Hours later, he would find it could.

Then he made a decision.

“Babe, I need a favor.” He waited until he had Bobby’s full attention then went on. “I need you to drive her home.”

Bobby’s eyes widened and her face bleached. It was a shit favor. She barely knew his mother. Not to mention, she probably wouldn’t want to be around a drunk. Though Anita had been sitting in the station for hours so she was likely sober.

“Whatever you need,” she replied.

Jonny’s eyes slowly closed and his head dropped forward. God, how long had he wanted to hear those words from Bobby? How long had he denied himself the woman he loved? Too damn long. And now that he finally had her he was being a selfish prick.

He owed her an explanation. It wasn’t a good one, but it was the truth.

“I can’t look at her right now. I need to calm down before I—”

“Shh,” she hushed and stepped into his arms. “I said whatever you need and I meant it. I’ll drive her home and sit with her. You do what you need to do. I’ll wait for you. Don’t worry about her, I’ll get her settled.”

“Thank you.”

Relief washed over him but so did disgust. He should be stronger than this. He should be protecting Bobby. Anita was his responsibility; she always had been. Even when his father was alive, he was in charge of looking out for his mother.

Bobby’s father called his exploits fishing. His father had called it work. Calvin Spencer would put on a suit, kiss his wife goodbye, and walk out the front door of his family home carrying a briefcase and garment bag. He’d leave his children in favor of fucking whatever woman he kept on the side. He’d put his filthy, lying mouth on his wife knowing he was going to cheat on her. But it was his parting shot that still burned Jonny’s gut. The same thing every time his father left for the weekend. “Take care of your mother.” A simple request. One that Jonny deeply resented. Calvin should’ve been taking care of his wife. But he never did.

“Vaughn? Do you need Jonny for anything?” Bobby asked.

“No. Everything’s ready.”

“Go do what you have to do. I got this.”

Bobby rolled up on her toes and touched her lips to his. He didn’t find peace. And that pissed him off all the more. Something else his mother had stolen from him. Bobby was his. The only person with whom he felt whole. The one person who could always calm the storm. But not right then. Not when his alcoholic mother was dressed in black, mourning the motherfucker who had ruined their lives.

No. All Jonny could think about was how he would never be good enough.

“I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

“Take what you need, Jonny. I promise I’ll take care of her.”

Damn, he loved her. Straight to his soul, he loved Bobby. But he couldn’t tell her that. He couldn’t say a goddamn thing. So he turned and walked out of the station, leaving his woman to deal with a shit situation that was his responsibility but he couldn’t handle it.