Waiting for Mark Read online

  Table of Contents

  WAITING FOR MARK

  Blurb

  Copyright Acknowledgement

  Prologue

  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

  Epilogue

  About the Author

  Trademarks Acknowledgment

  MLR PRESS AUTHORS

  WAITING FOR MARK

  The Sunset Club Book 3

  AC KATT

  mlrpress

  www.mlrpress.com

  Reggie Mitchell has been in love with Mark Randall for close to two years but Mark only sees him as a rich college kid trying to go slumming with a bartender. Then Mark gets in trouble helping Reggie’s friend Bobby.

  With a violent ex-lover threatening Mark, Reggie offers Mark the safe haven of his basement apartment. Can Reggie convince Mark that his safe haven is his arms instead?

  Copyright Acknowledgement

  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.

  Copyright 2016 by A.C. Katt

  All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.

  Published by

  MLR Press, LLC

  3052 Gaines Waterport Rd.

  Albion, NY 14411

  Visit ManLoveRomance Press, LLC on the Internet:

  www.mlrpress.com

  Cover Art by Winterheart Design

  Editing by Kris Jacen

  ebook format

  Issued 2016

  This book is licensed to the original purchaser only. Duplication or distribution via any means is illegal and a violation of International Copyright Law, subject to criminal prosecution and upon conviction, fines and/or imprisonment. This eBook cannot be legally loaned or given to others. No part of this eBook can be shared or reproduced without the express permission of the publisher.

  PROLOGUE

  Asbury Park ~ Eight Years Ago

  Mark Randall rode his bicycle down to the 7-11 on Route 71. He was out to get cigarettes for his mother; she was too drunk to drive and Mark wasn’t allowed to drive her car.

  When he pedaled into the parking lot, he was taken aback by the sheer number of motorcycles and their riders that stood on the black macadam. As he entered the store, he felt eyes boring into his back. Mark didn’t turn around, he knew better. He was gay and he looked the part. He was small, slender with curly black hair, eyes that bordered on dark violet in the right light and had a tendency to be seen as feminine. Not over the top, he thought, just a little bit frilly. Mark didn’t want any trouble. Sometimes if you even glanced at a straight guy you were asking for a beating. He went back to the refrigerated display cases, ostensibly looking at water and juice. He figured he’d hang out back there until they left. Initially, there were three of them at the register, now there were four. The one biker’s eyes were setting Mark’s windbreaker on fire. He could see the guy’s reflection in the glass as he stood in front of the case.

  Realizing he couldn’t stay back there forever, Mark watched them. As soon as they left, he went up to the register, purchased a bottle of water, his mother’s smokes, and went out the door. He was greeted by a bicycle with two flat tires.

  Mark didn’t even think; he was so angry. He shouted out, “Which one of you assholes did this?” He pointed to the bike. God damn it, it’s my only means of transportation.

  “That would be me.” A big, good-looking guy with dirty blond hair, blue eyes, and arms covered in tattoos walked to the front of the pack. This was the same biker who’d stared at him inside the store. Shit…I better forget about the bicycle and get ready to run. Wait, the guy is smiling at me. Maybe this isn’t as bad as it looks. The fire in his eyes is singeing my eyelashes. I thought it was anger, maybe not.

  Mark shrugged. “I’ll go to the gas station down the street and get the tires fixed. So what did you accomplish besides pissing me off and making me walk?”

  “Without the bicycle, I figured you’d ride with me. You’d look slamming on my bitch seat with those silky black curls blowing in the wind.”

  “I don’t want to be anyone’s bitch.” Mark grabbed his bike and started to walk.

  The biker took charge. “I think you’ll want to be mine. My friend here will get his truck and follow us to your place and we’ll have an opportunity to introduce ourselves to one another.”

  “I don’t think so.”

  “It’s only a ride on a public road. What have you got to lose?”

  Mark looked at the guy. He was good-looking, seemed sincere, and taking care of his mother gave Mark no time to have a boyfriend. He was about to turn eighteen and he was still a virgin.

  “You’ll take me home and nowhere else?”

  “I said I would.”

  “I won’t ride with you unless you have an extra helmet.”

  The biker snapped his fingers and one of the others handed him a helmet.

  “Okay.” Why not? We’re on a bike out in the open.

  Mark stuck out his hand. “Mark Randall.”

  The biker reciprocated. “Billy Cruz.” Billy gave Mark the helmet. “With this I can talk to you. There’s a microphone inside.”

  Mark put the helmet on and climbed onto the back of the bike.

  “Are you in school?”

  “No, I had a scholarship to Monmouth University, but I couldn’t afford the fees.”

  “What about Brookdale?”

  “I might have been able to afford community college, but I don’t have a car and it’s all the way over in Lincroft. Right now, I work in the head shop on Asbury Avenue.”

  “The Smoking Den?” Billy asked.

  “That’s the one. I make better money there than I did bagging groceries at Acme.” Billy turned a corner and Mark grabbed Billy and held on tighter.

  “If you were mine, you wouldn’t have to work and I’d pay for your schooling.”

  “I don’t belong to anyone but myself.”

  “We’ll see.”

  Two months later, just after his eighteenth birthday, Mark moved in with Billy.

  § § §

  Asbury Park ~ One Year Later

  Mark cowered in the corner. “I didn’t flirt. I swear.”

  “He was staring at you.” Billy stood over him, fists at the ready.

  “I can’t help that he leered at me. I didn’t look back.” Billy took his fat fist and punched Mark in the belly. Mark went down to the floor clutching his stomach. He rolled into a ball trying to make himself small and give Billy less surface area to kick.

  Billy’s boot connected to his ribs, his arm, and his thigh again and again. “If you weren’t trying to attract him, then how did you see he was leering?”

  Mark moved his leg in pain and Billy gave him a vicious kick to his balls. He swallowed a sob. “Please, I passed him on the way to the bathroom. You came with me, remember?” Billy ignored what Mark said, giving him another few kicks in the ribs.

  “You dress like that to attract attention to yourself.”

  Mark whimpered and tried to make himself smaller. He thought to attempt to reason with Billy. “Please, listen…you buy my clothes. I wear what you tell me to wear. How can I dress provocatively if you buy
me all my clothing?” Billy started to kick his ribs again with his biker boots.

  Mark knew he had broken ribs, it was difficult to take a deep breath. He couldn’t tell if he had a punctured lung and his arm lay funny under his chest and hurt like hell. Mark figured his eyes were blackened because he couldn’t see out of either one, and his head pounded in enough pain that he suspected a concussion. He had blacked out, but he couldn’t tell how long he was unconscious. When he opened his eyes again, the pain was relentless.

  Now, Mark was sobbing without making a sound, he knew if he cried out, the beating would get worse. Billy wasn’t even drunk this time. Mark finally realized that Billy beat him not because Mark did something wrong; he beat him because Billy was mean through and through. He didn’t want a boyfriend, he wanted a bed slave to use as a punching bag. The only hope Mark had was that the others would arrive for their meeting tonight before Billy beat Mark to death.

  CHAPTER ONE

  The Sunset Club ~ Wednesday Afternoon before Easter

  “You can’t fire me, I didn’t do anything wrong,” Jay said with belligerence.

  Bobby stepped up. “From what I understand,” Bobby turned to Reggie and Mark, “two witnesses watched you take money to let an unauthorized person into the club while the club was closed. That sounds good enough to be fired for cause. If I ever see your face within ten miles of here you’re not going to recognize yourself for a long, long time.”

  “I’ll make sure Ricky charges your little prick with assault.” Jay threatened Keith while walking to get his things.

  Reggie stepped up. “What he said about your face, and I’ve ten guys that have Bobby’s back.”

  Mark said, “Make that eleven.”

  “You’ll pay for being a snitch, Mark. I know where you live. This incident isn’t over.” Mark’s face turned white. Jay slammed the door as he left.

  “God, what have I done, he’s a badass. He fights with a knife. I’ve seen him.” Mark shook his head.

  Reggie walked over to where Mark was standing. “You’ll come and stay in the apartment attached to my house. I won’t bother you. Jason is just around the corner, and Bobby is two miles down the road. If you get into trouble, call Jason and Zach. They’re a minute away.”

  “I don’t have any furniture.” Mark seemed a bit ashamed that he was twenty-six and hadn’t accumulated anything of worth.

  “It’s furnished, just like your place in Deal. All we have to do is move out your clothes and personal things. Right, guys?”

  The other waiters and bartenders nodded in agreement. Mike walked in. “What’s going on here, why isn’t anyone working?”

  “We had to take out the trash,” Bobby told him.

  Reggie put his arm around Mark’s shoulders. “You’ll come to my house after your shift. I’ll give you my GPS with the house pre-programmed into it. That way you can work tonight, stay at the apartment after your shift and move your things in the morning. I’m sure the other guys will help. I won’t be there to bother you. I work in Princeton during the day.”

  “Okay, Reggie, but I pay rent, and this doesn’t mean I’ll date you or anyone else.” He mumbled the last part of that statement and went back behind the bar.

  Keith grabbed hold of Bobby and whispered, “Oh he’ll date him all right. You soccer champion guys are nothing if not persistent.”

  Bobby faced Keith. “Kiss me, big guy, and then let’s go home, we have a wedding to plan.”

  § § §

  Wednesday Evening

  Reggie Mitchell ran his fingers through his auburn hair, hazel eyes watching Mark shake as he tried to dry the bar glasses and put them on the shelf. Earlier that day, Mark had stood up to Ricky, Keith Anderson’s ex and did his friend and former soccer teammate, Bobby Michaels, a solid. Reggie was already in love with Mark, but what Mark had done for Bobby, even though he was afraid of Jay, made Reggie love and respect Mark more than he thought possible.

  Too bad Mark didn’t feel the same way. Mark was skittish. Reggie had been patient. As usual, Reg sat on a stool at the end of the bar. He looked down the expanse of the counter with concern. Mark was shaking with fear judging from the expression on his face. Reggie thought they took care of Jay earlier. He wondered what was wrong. Mark came over to check his drink, still trembling. He stood in front of Reggie.

  “You volunteered earlier this afternoon to rent me the apartment you have in the basement. I can’t take it. I’ll bring trouble with me.”

  “Jay? The guys and I will make sure Jay doesn’t bother you. What problem could you possibly have, besides Jay, we can’t easily take? What else could there be that would deter me from renting you an apartment?”

  “Jay just called,” Mark said in a small voice.

  “That son of a bitch…What was Jay doing calling you? Did he threaten you?”

  “He didn’t need to, I made some bad choices when I was eighteen. I had a biker boyfriend. He’s an acquaintance of Jay’s. That’s why Jay first got me the job here. I ran into Jay two years after Billy went away. What Jay and Billy didn’t know was that I sent him there. ”

  “Where is there?”

  “Rahway State Prison…”

  “Why did he go to prison?” Reggie was curious. This was a part of Mark’s life he knew nothing about.

  “When Billy was brought up on charges and convicted for armed robbery, he went to Rahway. He served seven years out of a fifteen-year sentence. Now he’s out and looking for me. He says I belong to him. Jay has threatened to tell him where I am..”

  “Does he know that you gave the police the information that got him arrested? Why else would he be looking for you?”

  “Because I was young and stupid and let him abuse me, thinking that it was okay in the beginning, because he always apologized and said he loved me. I was used to getting the shit beat out of me. My mother did it on a regular basis.”

  “Fuck…” Reggie’s face set in anger. The idea of someone abusing Mark made his blood boil.

  “I stayed with Billy for a year. He beat me regularly and toward the end he kept me prisoner. I couldn’t get away. The last beating I took almost killed me because he said I looked at someone else. If it weren’t for a neighbor calling the cops, I would have died. If he finds me again, he will kill me.”

  “Why?”

  Mark wiped the bar in front of Reggie and then he whispered, “They treated me like I wasn’t there. I was bleeding in the corner when the others came and they discussed their plans for the heist. I would have died there on the floor if the neighbor hadn’t called the cops and the EMTs after the bikers left the condo. She knew better than to call before they took off. The police arrested him for aggravated assault and battery.”

  “But you said he went away for armed robbery,” Reggie said, his face scrunched up in anger because of Mark’s pain.

  “I wouldn’t press charges, I was too afraid. However, I told the cops from my hospital bed about the heist. They didn’t even check to see if I was still alive when they left, not Billy or even one of the others.”

  “If you told them about the robbery, why didn’t you press charges for the assault?”

  “I didn’t press charges for assault so he couldn’t figure out it was me who told the police about the heist. What if he hadn’t been convicted? He would know it was me.”

  “So if he didn’t know it was you, why would he come after you?”

  “He wouldn’t know I told the police about the heist. The police were waiting for him at the pawn shop. I was still in the hospital and didn’t press assault charges, so I didn’t get the blame. However, he’s angry at me, for not visiting him in jail, for disappearing.” Mark broke the glass he was polishing.

  “Let me help you before you get cut.” Reggie picked up the larger pieces and got a wet paper towel to wipe up the splinters.

  Mark continued. It was like he had to vomit the rest of the poison out of his system.

  “He wrote angry letters that got forwarded
to my Post Office Box, threatening me. That’s how I know that just by disappearing I earned a beating that will kill me. He said if I wasn’t with him, he would see to it that I couldn’t be with anyone.” There was a hitch in Mark’s voice. “He’ll torture and slaughter me and everyone else I care about. I’m putting all of you in danger.” A lone tear dripped from the corner of Mark’s eye down his cheek. He wiped at it furiously.

  “Why is he out after only seven years?”

  “His father was a politician and the family had influence. The fact that he went to jail at all was a miracle. He asked for a bench trial, the kind with no jury. That was so his father could buy off the judge.”

  “The prosecutor let them do that?” Reggie’s fist tightened.

  “The prosecutor could do nothing. The judge couldn’t let him off completely, the police caught him and his crew in the act, but I’m sure money changed hands for the reduced sentence and probation.”

  “Couldn’t the prosecutor look for a new trial?”

  “Not if he was convicted at the bench trial and the prosecution can’t ask for a stiffer sentence, that’s totally up to the judge.”

  “How the hell did the judge justify the sentence?”

  “At the sentencing I heard that the judge placed most of the blame on Billy’s crew saying that Billy was misled. They got stiffer sentences. Billy was the mastermind. But rich people don’t get justice, they get preferential treatment. If I weren’t such a coward, I’d have pressed the charges for assault. They couldn’t have ignored my injuries,” Mark said bitterly.

  “How old were you when all of this happened?” Reggie was incensed that someone threatened Mark. He thought of Mark as his. He’d been working on getting a date with Mark for almost two years since well before his friend Jason and Zach, the co-owner of the Sunset with Keith, even met.

  While Reggie was stuck in his thoughts, Mark had continued…

  “I was almost eighteen when we got involved, nineteen when they put him away. The last time he beat me I had four broken ribs and a broken arm. One of the ribs almost punctured my lung. The bruises so dark they didn’t go away for months, and a concussion. My eyes were so blackened, I couldn’t see out of either of them for days.”