by Chloe Walsh
"Are you for fucking real?" I roared as I ran my hand through my hair before yanking on it in a bid to keep my free hand busy and stop myself from breaking something. As it stood I was fairly certain I'd cracked the cover of my phone. "That's your daughter you're talking about. What the hell is wrong with you?"
"Pity she doesn't remember that," he mused. "Spent eighteen damn years raising that little bitch and how does she repay me?" he snarled. "By running off to the city and getting herself knocked up, that's how. You know, she aint gonna stay with you," he growled. "She'll be back. Girl's as dumb as a stack of bricks," he laughed. "All I gotta do is snap my fingers and she'll come running, boy…" My phone was pulled out of my hand before I had a chance to respond.
Ending the call, Tracy placed my phone on the counter before patting me on the shoulder. "You were right," she said in a soft tone. "Don't listen to his poison. It won't do any good."
I inhaled a few deep breaths before I found my voice. "I need to go." Jimmy's words were swarming my mind. I needed to check on Lee. I shouldn't have come here in the first place. I shouldn't have left her on her own.
"My daughter is a very lucky woman," was all she replied.
****
Our bed was empty.
Our bed was fucking empty and I couldn't find her. Jesus Christ. "Lee?" I called out as I rushed out of our room and into the hallway. "PRINCESS?"
I heard the sound of furniture scraping and then the sound of a key unlocking before Hope's bedroom door opened and Lee peeked her head around the door. "Keep it down," she growled when her eyes met mine. I felt like collapsing on the floor in relief. I watched her as she crept out of Hope's room and closed the door out quietly before walking straight past me, into our room.
"What were you doing?" I asked as I trailed after her.
"Sleeping," she snapped as she threw back the covers and climbed into bed. "What were you doing? And don't lie to me, Kyle."
"I was…" Shit, how was I going to explain this to her without upsetting her… "You're mother called me," I confessed. "She was worried."
"Make a list, Kyle," Lee hissed as she curled into a ball on her side.
"A list?" I shook my head in confusion as I shrugged off my clothes and climbed into bed beside her. When I tried to wrap my arm around her she flinched and batted my arm away with her elbow. "A shit list?" I asked feeling totally fucking confused.
"No," she whispered as she wiggled further away from me. "A list of priorities. But yeah, as far as shit lists go, you're topping mine."
"Nothing new there then." I sighed as I rolled onto my back. "And I happen to have my priorities in order, Lee."
"Are you sure about that?" she snapped as she sat up straight and rolled the sleeves of my long-sleeved t-shirt up to her elbows. "You lock me away in the hotel for weeks," she hissed. "Frighten me half to death about the dangers of being on my own, only to move us into a house in the middle of nowhere and leave me on my own at night to chase after…that woman. You know how I feel about her, Kyle."
I flinched. It sounded fucking terrible when she said it like that. "Princess…"
"Do you want my list of priorities, Kyle?" she asked as she stared down at me, her gray eyes full of hurt. "It consists of two people." She turned her face away and stared straight ahead. "You and Hope, Kyle," she whispered. "That's my list."
"That's my list, too, Lee," I said quietly. "Your mom…she's had a very hard life."
"Shut up, Kyle," Lee hissed and the venom in her tone stunned me. "I hate that woman. I hate her. You hate your father. Well, I hate her." Her voice broke and she sprang out of bed, clutching her back. I moved to follow her, but the look of hatred in Lee's eyes nailed me to the bed. "And I don't care what you think of me for feeling like that," she added as she flinched as clutched her side. "I was starved. Locked up and beaten with more objects than I can bear to remember," she cried, tears streaming down her face. "I was slapped for speaking, kicked for breathing too heavily, burned with irons and pokers…"
"Stop," I choked out as I covered my face with my hands.
"No," she screamed. "You wanted me to tell you, so here it is." She inhaled deeply and wiped her eyes with the back of her hands before glaring at me. "When I was six years old, I came down with a stomach bug." She backed up until she was pressing against the wall and then she lowered herself to the floor. "I was so sick…" she whispered. "And instead of having a mom, I had him," she spat. "Do you k-know what he d-did to me when I vomited in the sink instead of the toilet …" Her voice cracked as she held the sides of her face and stared into nothing. "He filled the sink and held my face under the water and vomit until I passed out…"
"Lee," I begged. "Please, I can't hear this, baby. It fucking rips me open…"
"Well, join the club," she hissed as she stalked back to our bed and wrapped herself under the covers. "Because you are ripping my heart open every time you speak to her. How would you feel if I went running to David…"
"It's not the same," I snapped. "It is a totally different situation, Lee."
"To you, maybe," she whispered. "But not to me."
****
Derek
I spotted the maternity merc pull into the driveway and groaned. I didn't want to get involved in their drama. And I just knew there was drama. It seemed to walk hand in hand with those two…
Besides, I had enough problems of my own. One very big problem I had was sitting on the couch right now, grinning at me like I was a good person. If he knew what I'd done he wouldn't be smiling at me. He'd be handing my ass to me.
"So," Danny grinned as he took a swig of his beer. "Is it cool if I crash here for the night?"
"Uh…" No. No. Hell fucking no…"Sure," I mumbled. "But I have to run it by Kyle first. It's his house."
The front door slammed and Kyle's voice rang through my ears. "She's driving me fucking crazy," he snarled as he stormed into the living room. "I swear to god, Der, I am going to lose my …" His voice trailed off as his eyes landed on Danny. "Who the hell are you?" Kyle asked in confusion.
Nice, dude, way to be diplomatic…
"Kyle," I said with a sigh. "This is Danny, my friend from Addyston I was telling you about."
Kyle eyes widened as he looked back and forth between the two of us. A slow smile crept across his face and I tensed. "Hey," he grinned as he stepped forward. "Sorry about the abruptness. Derek's told me a lot about you, man. Told me you guys were close growing up?"
"I've heard a lot about you too, man," Danny said in a friendly tone as he stood and shook Kyle's outstretched hand. "Nice place you've got here."
"Yeah," Kyle replied. "Some people think so." His eyes flickered to me and I shook my head. "So, Danny…" Kyle said with a smirk as he sank down on the couch and propped his feet up on the coffee table. "Got any sisters?"
Bastard…
****
Kyle
My mood considerably lightened the moment I'd walked through the front door in Thirteenth Street and realized Derek had bigger problems than me.
"Dad said to say hey, Der," Danny chuckled as he slid his phone into his back pocket and took a slug of his beer. "I swear that man loves you more than he loves me."
Ha fucking ha…
Derek squirmed in his seat and I had to bite down on my fist to stop myself from laughing out loud. Derek glared at me. "So, Kyle," he said with a smirk. "How's Lee doing? Made her cry lately?" He turned to look at Danny and waggled his brow. "Woman troubles."
Asshole.
If he knew just how bad my woman troubles were I doubt he'd make jokes. Lee wasn’t speaking to me over her mom and I was growing agitated. The silent treatment was wearing me down and I'd come here to offload, but obviously, Derek was in one of his moods…
Danny laughed and slapped my knee. "Let her loose, Kyle," he chuckled. "That's my motto. You gotta throw the clingy ones back into the pond. Plenty more fish and all that…"
"And here's my motto." I turned my face to glare at the imp's
stupid fucking face. Who the hell did this guy think he was? Jesus, my bad mood was back with a vengeance. "Don't talk about something you have no understanding of."
"Ooh," Danny smirked. "Hit a nerve have I?" He shook his head and chuckled. "Girl must have you sunk like a stone. Who is she? The mother of your kid or something?"
"Yeah," I said through clenched teeth. "As a matter of fact she is."
The smirk fell from his face. "Dude," he muttered. "Sorry. I respect the hell out of that. Good for you. Fucking hate seeing women being screwed over by assholes who don't man up."
I reasonably relaxed and nodded. Danny had just saved himself from a guaranteed fist in the face. "Yeah, me too." There wasn't a hope in hell I would ever be one of those guys. I was the son of one of those guys…
"Girl or boy?" Danny asked with a genuine mile.
I couldn't stop the smile from creeping across my face. "Girl," I told him as I pulled my wallet out of my pocket. "Hope. She's seven months." Flicking it open, I pulled out a small photo and handed it to him.
"Cute stage," he said knowingly as he dropped his gaze to the photo. "Holy shit…she's beautiful." He looked up at me and then back down at the photo. "Seriously, man, she's gorgeous."
"Thanks," I grinned, pride swelling inside of me. Hope was gorgeous. "And she's really advanced. She's started crawling a little and sleeps through the night."
"No," Danny muttered. "The kid's adorable, but I was talking about her." He pointed to Lee's face and I stiffened. "I can see why you're sunk. Holy hell, I have a semi from looking at her." He looked over at Derek and glared. "You've been living it up here, haven't you, jackass? Never thought to tell your oldest friend you had her living in your house for a year?"
Derek lunged for me and tackled me to the floor before I had a chance to take a good swing at the creep. "Calm down," Derek said slowly.
Danny laughed. "Hey, Kyle, do you share around here?" He waved the photo in the air. "'Cause unless you have a wedding ring on her finger she's fair game."
"I'm gonna kill you," I roared as I glowered at Danny, who was still ogling my fucking woman. "Get the fuck off me, douchebag." I tried to buck Derek off, but the fucker was sitting on my chest with my hands locked under his legs.
"Are you stupid?" Derek hissed as he glared at Danny's smug face. "She's the mother of his child."
"What?" Danny asked innocently.
Yep, I hated him.
I fucking hated him already.
I was going to tear his throat out.
"You should take it as a compliment, Kyle," he smirked as she stood up and stretched slowly. "Not too many women have that effect on me. She's looks damn fine for a woman who has a baby."
"Get out," Derek shouted. "Or I'm gonna personally kick your ass."
"Fine," Danny mused as he dropped the photo on the couch before sauntering over to the door. "Catch you later, Derek." He grinned down at me. "Kyle, tell your baby momma I said hi…"
"Out," Derek roared.
The front door slammed out and Derek stared down at me. "You cool?" he asked as he slapped my cheeks with his hands, not hard, but enough to make me want to draw blood. "You good?" I nodded my head and he sat back and sighed.
Swinging my legs up. I wrapped them around his neck and dragged him backwards before climbing on top of him. "Yeah, I'm good, asshole," I growled, bitch slapping his cheeks. "But if I ever see that prick and you try and stop me, I'm gonna take you out. Got it?"
"Yeah," Derek panted.
"God, I hope you got his sister good," I snarled.
"Three times," Derek said with a smirk.
I clapped him on the back. "Nice, dude."
He nodded his head. "Thanks, man."
****
Chapter 16
Liar Liar
Derek
I was a liar and apparently, a mighty fine one at that. I'd mastered my new skill to a fine art. I could look my best friend in the eye, lie right to his face and not even flinch. "How you doing, man?" Kyle asked me as he lifted Hope out of her crib, in the pinkest room I'd ever stepped foot inside. No, it's not…
"Nice room, dude," I said from the doorway gesturing around at all the pink–and mentally blocking out the image of her face from my mind. "This yours?" They'd moved in weeks ago and I'd finally dragged my ass out of bed to check it out.
"Funny," Kyle grumbled as he placed Hope on her changing table and unbuttoned her onesie.
"Don't hide behind Hope," I joked. "We both know about that pink feather boa in your old room. What was that chick's name again? Mia…Tia?"
"Fuck if I can remember." Kyle shook his head before adding, "And keep your voice down. I'm already in the dog house."
I shook my head and glared at him. "What did you do now?"
"Pass me that blue tube of cream from her diaper bag, will you?" he asked ignoring my question. "I think she's cutting another tooth. Her butt's a little red."
"Who are you?" Shaking my head, I passed him the cream.
"Good girl," he crooned as he pinned on the sticky tags of her fresh diaper before dressing her in an outfit I presumed had been laid out by Lee. If not, he needed to get his masculinity reevaluated.
"If the hotel business ever fails you'd make a killing as a nanny," I told him. "I can see it now. Carter's Crèche. Butt cream extraordinaire."
"Wait until it's your turn, douchebag," he retorted as he picked up his baby. "You'll see."
I followed Kyle into the lounge and stopped dead in my tracks and let out a whistle. "Oh, man," I whispered. "She's beautiful."
Kyle grinned as he sat Hope into her baby-walker and turned on some cartoons. "Sixty inches of pure pleasure, complete with the latest Xbox just waiting to entertain you…if you move in that is…"
He was a manipulative son of a bitch. Shaking my head, I forced my eyes away from the most beautiful television I'd ever seen and sank my ass down on the most uncomfortable couch in the history of cream leather furnishings. "So, how you been doing, man?" he asked taking the armchair opposite me.
Fiddling with my thumbs, I concentrated on not looking at the photo frame sitting in the middle of the fire place. "Great," I replied adding a little enthusiasm into my voice. "I'm doing really well, dude. Much better." See, I was a fucking fantastic liar.
Kyle fixed his blue eyes on me for a moment before grinning. "Good," he sighed in relief. "I was worried how you were handling…"
"It's all good," I said interrupting him. I couldn't talk about it, not to Kyle. "How's Lee doing?" I asked tactfully veering the conversation away from me. "You said you were in the dog house?" Kyle's face did that stupid glazed over gaze before he sighed and rubbed his face with his hands. "What did you do?" I asked, my tone laced with disgust. He'd screwed up. I knew it and by the look of it he knew it, too. "Tell me you didn’t…"
"Don't start," Kyle grumbled. I watched him mutter something incoherent before standing quickly and stalking out of the room. I rolled my eyes and followed after him. He was stood frozen at the kitchen door. "Brace yourself," he muttered, eyes locked on Lee, who was sitting on a stool at their kitchen island, with her head in her hands. "I fucked up the other night. Went to see her mom. This could get ugly."
"Jesus, Kyle," I groaned. "You're amazing at fucking things up. You should take it up as a sport. You'd be guaranteed a gold medal." Pushing past him, I strolled over to where Lee was sitting and perched myself on the stool beside her. "How you doing, ice?"
Lee's head snapped up and she looked at me with the biggest smile. A real, honest to god, I'm-happy-to-see-you, mega-watt smile that touched something deep down in my heart. I couldn’t remember the last time someone had smiled at me like that. Like they were happy to see me…It felt strange. "Hey you," she said as her big gray eyes searched mine. "Have you changed your mind? Are you coming home?"
"Nah. I'm enjoying my own company." I had to turn my face away. She was too perceptive. She saw right through my bullshit the same way she saw through Kyle's. I didn't know what
it was about that girl–maybe it was the purity that bounced off of her– but it made it too hard to lie to her. You just couldn't. "So, how you doing?" I mumbled as I stirred some sugar into the cup of coffee Kyle had placed in front of me.
"I'm doing," she replied quietly.
"Did you think about meeting Tracy?" Kyle asked. Lee glared at him and I personally wanted to kick him in the balls.
Fucking idiot.
"Kyle," she said in a warning tone and I knew the shit was about to hit the fan. "Let it go." She hopped down from the stool and stormed into the lounge.
I stood up quickly. I was getting my ass out of the line of fire. The last time I'd been around them during one of their arguments I'd gotten an apple in the balls. Shit, for all I knew Lee had neutered me. "Keep pushing and she'll run," I muttered before leaving quickly.
****
Lee
"Just go to work, Kyle," I said wearily. I was close to breaking point. I needed to stop this conversation. It was the same one we'd been having with three freaking days. He didn’t get it, refused to see my point of view. The man had zero empathy and if he didn’t back the hell off this was going to end badly. "I really don't want to have this same argument with you over and over. I've told you how I feel…I have explained to you. You need to respect that. Respect my choices. Respect me."
"You think I don't respect you?" He asked in a disgusted tone of voice as stalked towards me. Grabbing my elbow he led me back into the kitchen before closing the door behind us. A small part of my mind appreciated the fact that he was caring enough not to let Hope to see us like this. "Where the hell did you get that notion from?" he hissed. "If I didn't respect you do you think I'd be standing here listening to this?" He shook his head. "Hell no. I would have put your ass in my car and driven you to the Denver months ago."