Downfall

by Jay Crownover

  I closed my eyes and swallowed hard. “I overheard Channing and my mother arguing one night after Noble’s dad bailed. Channing wanted to use his bastard son to get custody of Noble. He was going to try and take her from me.” I shuddered just thinking about it. “He was telling my mother that he knew someone in an institution who would have no qualms about locking me up for as long as he asked. He wanted me out of the picture so he could take my baby and turn her into the child he always wanted. “My mom wasn’t having it. She let him run over her and dismiss me my whole life, but she finally stood up to Channing when he tried to get between me and her grandchild.”

  It was the only time in memory I could remember respecting my mother. She was screaming at Channing Vincent that she was going to expose all their dirty laundry and tell the world what kind of man he really was. She could ruin him with little effort and Channing must have realized he had finally pushed her too far.

  I jolted when I felt the rough tip of Solo’s fingertip trace the track of a tear I wasn’t aware had fallen. “He hit her and told her he would kill her before she said anything to anyone.” I rubbed at the wet streaks on my face and took a deep breath before plowing ahead. “She must’ve lost her balance or something when she went down after he struck her. She was yelling at him, threatening to call the cops, and then everything went silent.” I remembered leaving teeth marks in the back of my hand to muffle my scream. I remembered how quickly the metallic scent of blood filled the air. “She hit her head on the corner of his desk.” At least that was the official story. The unofficial story was that Channing very well may have helped her connect with corner of his antique desk in just the right way. The only two people who knew what really happened in that room were my mother and the man who absolutely would kill to keep his secrets buried. “She died that night, and I knew if I didn’t get out of Channing Vincent’s house, I was next.” I smuggled Noble out of the Vincent estate in the middle of the night and never looked back. Maybe I should’ve gone farther than the city just beyond those protective gates, but at the time, I was too scared to go too far from the only home I’d ever known. It’d taken the man sitting across from me, patiently listening to my living, breathing nightmare, to show me home could be found anywhere if you followed the right person inside. “Like I told you before, I knew Noble’s dad was the weak link, so I paid him off and made him sign away his rights. Channing can’t use him to get to my daughter.” Well, he could, but not without bringing unwanted attention to himself and his past misdeeds. “If he finds me, he’s going to get me out of the way so he can take Noble. If he does, there will be no fighting back. I honestly didn’t think he would look for me in the city. As far as he knows, I can’t survive without his American Express black card and weekly allowance.” Channing had too much money and too many friends in high places. If Channing managed to remove me from the equation, who was left to fight for Noble? I was all she had.

  Only, I wasn’t the only one she could rely on anymore. There was someone else in her corner now. Someone who would never be intimidated by a man like Channing Vincent. A man who knew what it was like to fight for the people you loved. I firmly believed, without him saying a single word, that Solo would stand between Noble and anyone trying to hurt her or take her away.

  I let out a surprised noise when I was suddenly yanked across the expanse of couch separating us. “Your ribs!” I didn’t want to hurt him worse than he had to be hurting from the sudden movement, so I let him haul me into his lap. He tucked my head under his chin. For such a tough guy, he was one hell of a good cuddler. I leaned into the caress when he ran his hand down my spine and dropped a kiss on the crown of my head.

  “No one is taking that little girl away from you. I don’t care if I have to sell my soul to the men who run this city, I will do whatever it takes to keep you together.”

  I rested my forehead against the hollow of his throat and whispered my deepest, most profound desire. “I’d like it if we could all stay together for as long as possible. Our lives have been so much better with you in them.” Even if there was only so much he had to give.

  Solo was quiet for a long time, but eventually his arms tightened their hold. “You’ve both brought a lot to my life that I didn’t know I was missing, as well. I’m not about to let anyone take that away.”

  I knew it was the kind of promise I couldn’t expect him to keep, but just like I told Noble, I had to give him enough time to prove he could. I was going to have to be patient and believe he was always going to be able to be my hero.

  “Am I hurting you?” I hated that he could barely move because Channing decided to play hardball.

  A deep chuckle vibrated under my ear. “The ribs don’t feel great, but I’ll live. Just gotta give them time to heal. All the parts of us that break eventually mend with enough time.”

  Not only was he hot, great in bed, and wonderfully protective, he was also very smart. My heart had always been somewhat broken from the way it was mistreated in that opulent mansion on the hill. But time and distance from that life had indeed started to stitch it back together. Pretty soon the entire thing would be whole, just in time for me to hand it over to the man who not only stood between me and the rest of the world, but who also taught me how to stand on my own.

  Solo

  Orley was nervous.

  Outwardly she was calm and composed, but her hand was clammy where it was clutched in mine and her fingers were twitching involuntarily. She kept telling Noble to behave and gently repeated the soft reminder that my mom wasn’t like other moms. She told Noble over and over again how special my mother was, and the words did something to my heart. My mom was special. She always had been, even if I was the only one who recognized it before she got injured. It was cute the way Noble nodded so gravely every time Orley prompted her to be good so they would be invited to visit again. The adorable little girl took her assigned task very seriously. The look of determination on her cherubic features was almost an identical match to the one her mother wore when she was focused intently on something.

  Since Orley had ripped open her past for me, I figured it was only fitting I take her to meet my mother. I knew so much more about her than her last name, and while most of it wasn’t all that pretty, none of it was enough to scare me off. I was certain every ugly secret she shared seemed as dark and dirty as it could get, but the reality was, I’d witnessed far worse growing up in the city. I understood Channing Vincent was dangerous, especially since he knew Orley was hiding out in the slums right around the corner from his mansion. But he didn’t frighten me a fraction as much as the man I worked for and the man I fought for. He was greedy, manipulative, and used to getting his own way, but he wasn’t what I would consider a serious threat. At least, he wasn’t now that I knew exactly what I was facing. Orley was terrified of him, regardless of how many times I promised to keep both her and Noble safe.

  Getting out of the center of the city was a good break for all of us. My mom was having a good day, so it was time for a long overdue visit. I wanted Orley’s mind off Vincent and the past, not that I planned on her tying herself in knots over meeting my mother.

  I squeezed the hand practically vibrating in my grasp. “Stop worrying. Mom will love you. Both of you.” I winked at Noble, who was holding Orley’s other hand and the picture she drew for my Mom after her last bad day. “She’s never met a stranger and makes friends with everyone. She’s the staff’s favorite long-term patient, even though she can be a handful.”

  Orley wrinkled her nose and huffed out a breath, which sent her dark red hair dancing away from her face. “I’ve never met ‘the parents’ before. I was never with anyone long enough to worry about having to make a good impression on someone who means everything to the person I care about.” Her fingers flexed in mine again. “At the bare minimum, I used to be able to say I was from a good family, but that’s not even the truth. Now all I have is the fact that I’m a single mom who is barely able to pay her bills, hiding from w
hat remains of that not-so-good family. I sound like a real catch.” She rolled her eyes toward the sky and I had to adjust my stride as her steps noticeably slowed. “You can do so much better, and your mom will see it.”

  I tugged at her hand and returned to a normal pace, practically dragging her and Noble behind me. “I’ve never brought anyone to meet my mom. This is a first for me, too. And it’s not about being better, it’s about doing what’s right. You’re right for me, and I have no doubt my mom will be able to see it right away.”

  She still didn’t look convinced, but we were already at the entrance to the facility, so there was no more time to try and convince her everything was going to go smoothly. Once I pushed through the doors, I was immediately engulfed in warm welcomes and aggressive affection from several of the nursing staff. My mother’s main caregiver was a woman in her fifties named Melody. She was a lifelong resident of the city, so she was as tough as nails, but she had also decided to take up where my mother left off and did her best to baby me every time I came to visit. She was one of the main reasons I didn’t mind being used as a punching bag in order to keep my mother somewhere she got amazing care and was truly adored by the staff.

  After greeting Orley with a brisk handshake and a speculative look, the nurse smiled at the little girl hovering close to her mother and stated, “You brought company with you this time. Who is this?” The older woman crouched down so she was at Noble’s level, cocking her head with exaggerated amazement at Noble’s drawing for my mother. “And what do you have there, you little cutie pie?”

  Once again, the little girl proved to be braver than her mother. Noble proudly showed off the drawing to the collection of nurses who suddenly gathered. It had to be those wild black curls and innocent smile that stole every heart she encountered.

  “It’s for Solo’s mommy. He told me she would like it a lot.” Noble nodded definitively like my words were gospel. Melody looked up at me from under her lashes, doing a terrible job of hiding her smile.

  “Yep, Solo’s mommy will definitely like it very much. Are you ready to go and meet her?” Noble nodded enthusiastically while Orley turned white and looked like she was ready to bolt out the front door. Melody lifted herself back to her full height and gave me a critical once over. “Maybe Solo needs to have one of the nurses check him out before you leave. He looks like he lost another fight.”

  Noble’s pouty bottom lip jutted out as her tiny eyebrows pulled together in a mini-frown when she looked up at me. “Fighting is bad. You get in trouble when you fight and get your privileges taken away.” She stumbled over the word privileges, but the rest of the words in her quickly spoken sentence were clear enough for me to fill in the blanks.

  Orley reached out and put her hand on Noble’s head. She blushed a bright red and hurriedly uttered, “Remember, we talked about how sometimes there is no choice but to fight. Like when you’re protecting yourself or someone you love. It all depends on the circumstance.”

  Noble nodded as if she understood, but in a whisper loud enough to be heard in Alaska, she tilted her head in my direction and asked, “What’s a sir-com-stance?” It was another big word she murdered with her limited vocabulary, but it was the cutest assassination possible.

  I gave her another wink and told her, “The situation. Sometimes people end up in a bad situation and they have to fight, but generally fighting is bad and someone always gets hurt. It’s a good idea to stay away from a fight if you can.”

  All the nurses laughed as she stuck out her small fist to bump against mine. I caught Orley’s surprised look out of the corner of my eye. I’d been spending a lot of time with Noble lately, and it seemed like she was starting to pick up on some of my more common habits. The little girl turned to her mom and offered up the same fist for another bump. Orley complied with a small shake of her head as I got sly, delighted grins from the majority of the staff watching the interaction.

  Catching Noble’s hand and placing my free hand on Orley’s lower back, I started to guide them away from the fascinated staff toward the little efficiency apartment my mother called home. Noble was practically bouncing up and down in excitement. This entire outing was a big adventure to her, and I hoped whatever her future held, be it here in the city or somewhere else, she never lost her sense of wonder and her infectious enthusiasm. Those things were definitely worth fighting for, no matter what was lost.

  My mom opened the door after I knocked. For someone who’d been injured as gravely as she had, my mother somehow managed to look like any other suburban mom. She was around the same height as Orley and had the same dark hair and eyes as I did. Her face had settled into her age gracefully. The only sign of the violence that had forever changed her life was the obvious bald spot on the side of her head where the doctors had to literally piece her skull back together. Her eyes were as wide and innocent as the little girl’s whose hand I held in mine. She blinked at me for a second, the same way she always did. Some days when I visited, it took her up to an hour to remember who I was. On good days it was usually quicker.

  Today was a good day, because a wide grin broke out on her face, one Noble immediately matched. With zero shyness or hesitation, she stuck out the drawing and grinned up at my mom in all her gap-toothed glory. “Hi. I’m Noble. I drew this for you. It’s me and Mommy and Solo.”

  My mother took the picture, eyes lighting up. “It’s pretty. Thank you.” She held the paper to her chest and gasped. “I’ll draw you a picture, too!” She reached out and pushed my shoulder playfully. “You brought me a friend this time!”

  Noble took my mother’s exuberance in stride, and when I glanced over at Orley, she looked like she was caught somewhere between love and hate. It was a dichotomy I understood well. I loved my mother with all of my heart and soul, but there were moments when I hated what her life had become, what had been stolen from her, what I’d lost. Fortunately, the love always won out, and the same thing happened with Orley. A second later she had the same expression on her face she wore when Noble did something particularly adorable.

  I cleared my throat and pulled the tall redhead by the hand so she was standing next to me. “Mom, this is my friend Orley. She’s Noble’s mom. They moved in next door to me not too long ago and I’ve been spending a lot of time with them lately. I talk about you all the time, so they were excited to come and meet you.”

  My mother stuck her hand out and Orley gave it a gentle shake. My mom repeated the motion in Noble’s direction and the little girl shook her hand with a serious expression on her face as she practically yelled, “It’s nice to meet you.”

  My mom’s dark eyes drifted from Orley to where my hand was still resting on her lower back. Her eyebrows winged up and she tilted her head to the side a little bit. After a moment long enough to make the silence awkward, she stepped away from the door and waved us into the apartment.

  “You’re pretty.” She stopped once we were inside the smallish space and looked over at Orley again. “Are you Solo’s new girlfriend?”

  Orley faltered a step, so I reached out to steady her. I smiled at my mom and nodded behind Orley’s head as she stumbled over her answer.

  “We… I … Uh…. we’re close. I think he’s pretty great.” I could hear her voice shake but she kept her eyes on my mother and the twitch in her hands was no longer obvious.

  “He is great. I love it when he comes and sees me, and this time he brought a friend.” She reached out a hand in Noble’s direction, which the little girl immediately took. Together they practically skipped toward her living room. My mom was telling Noble all about her favorite colors and her favorite things to draw. She had the same careless delight in the little things as Noble. It made my heart feel like it’d been drop kicked by a hundred different emotions watching the two of them together.

  I dropped a kiss on the top of Orley’s head and asked if she was okay. She nodded briefly and exhaled audibly. “I’m good. You look so much like her. She’s beautiful.”

&nb
sp; “She likes you.” I reassured her as we slowly followed my mom and Noble.

  Orley snorted and I got an elbow in the side. Luckily, it was the side without the broken ribs, but I still grunted at the impact and made a big deal of rubbing the spot dramatically for sympathy points.

  “How do you know she likes me? Because she told me I’m pretty?” She sounded utterly skeptical.

  I chuckled under my breath and smoothed my hand down the fiery fall of her hair. “Because she opened the door and let us in. Some days she won’t even let Melody come in, and that woman has cared for her like she’s family for years.”