I parked in the driveway and got out. I saw Roger’s car was here and I sighed, I guess it was stupid wishing he were gone since I knew he was here with Shakira. Would I be so lucky that he would just let this pass for what I was? I walked into the house and Shakira was sitting at the table. I placed a kiss to her forehead. “Hey honey.”
She looked up. “Hey mommy! Where were you yesterday?” she asked.
I smiled. “I had to stay at work because the weather was too dangerous to drive.” I told her.
She nodded. “It was scary outside yesterday. I was looking out of the window and I was hoping that nothing bad happened to you. I couldn’t see anything.” She told me.
I kissed her cheek. “That’s sweet of you Kira, are you hungry?” I asked.
She nodded. “Yea. Roger has been in the room all day and he looked mad I didn’t want to ask him for anything.”
I frowned. “You didn’t eat today?” I asked.
She shook her head. “No, but I’m hungry and I’ll eat now.” She told me.
I put on some franks since that was quick and I stormed into our room. “You didn’t feed Kira today?” I asked.
His head jerked up and he scoffed. “That’s your daughter. If you would’ve come home like you were supposed to then that wouldn’t be an issue now would it?”
I crossed my arms. “You’re not fucking serious right now right? You would leave her fucking hungry because you’re pissed that I refused to drive in weather when the news was specific in saying that people should not drive?”
He looked me up and down. “Are you sure that’s the reason? You look mighty cozy in someone else’s clothes. You slept with him didn’t you?” he asked.
I gaped at him. “I didn’t fucking sleep with anyone. I slept in a guest bedroom like I told you I would. And about the clothes, would you have preferred I pranced around naked? What’s with you? Why would I jeopardize everything just to sleep with Nick again?”
He stood up and stalked towards me. “Don’t give me that innocent shit I’m no fool, you don’t think I’ve noticed the change in you since he came back into your life? You haven’t even had sex with me! So you’re sleeping with him aren’t you?” His eyes narrowed and he searched my face for an answer.
I growled and took a step forward. “New flash, we weren’t having sex on the regular to begin with.”
He laughed. “That’s because you aren’t that good ever consider that?”
Now I laughed. “Oh really, you’re going to stoop that low?”
He shrugged. “If the shoe fits, and it wouldn’t be the first time you cheated on me with him.”
Now I was pissed. He accused me of being a whore, is insulting me wherever he could get in a cheap shot, and most importantly he took his anger out on my daughter. “So you feel like more of a man now huh? You know what I think you need some time to yourself to cool off because this isn’t going anywhere good.”
I turned to leave the room and he grabbed my arm and pushed me against the wall. “No we’re going to fucking talk about this now. Just admit it, he’s some hot shot celebrity so you needed to have it under your belt you fucked a basketball star. Is that it?”
I rolled my eyes. “I was already able to say that but I don’t so what’s your point?”
He gripped me harder and slammed me into the wall again. This time my head bounced off the wall and I cringed in pain. “Get off of me.”
“Now you don’t want to be touched. Did you tell him that?” he asked.
I growled. “We didn’t have sex! Now let me go because you’re hurting me. I just hit my head on the wall.” I demanded.
“I forgave you, I do anything for you and you don’t appreciate it. You can’t even pick a date for us to get married. Why can’t you Mel, what is the fucking hold up?”
“It’s not the right time!” I argued.
“When is going to be the right time? Tell me the truth for once Mel.” He said reluctantly.
I sighed and dropped my head. “I don’t know.” I admitted in a whisper.
He shook me. “I know what it is. It’s him isn’t it? It’s always been him. That’s why we can’t get close, that’s why we’re not married, that’s why you don’t even let me hold you. You never got over that weak bastard and now you’re all over him. You smell like him. You’re a dirty slut and that’s why your daughter doesn’t have a fucking father now. You think I would put my name on her birth certificate? You think it’s my responsibility to feed her? I do it because I love you but you need to know I don’t have to. She doesn’t even have to live here with us.”
I felt tears prick my eyes. “You son of a bitch! I pay almost all of the bills here and she will be anywhere that I am. You sound like a punk ass coward right now taking your anger out on a five year old girl. I see how you feel about the both of us now and I’m fucking happy that I didn’t marry you. I never asked you to be a part of her life let alone sign the birth certificate so I don’t know where you even get off with that. Besides, maybe you’re right I am a slut because while I was sleeping in that guest bedroom last night I wanted to fuck him. Does that make you all warm and tingly inside? This massive thing you have against him I wouldn’t be surprised if you wanted to too.”
He growled and his fist came up and landed down on my face hard. I tasted blood in my mouth and I began to sink to the floor. I watched him grab his jacket and storm out of the room and the front door slammed. I stood up and went to the closet and grabbed a duffle bag. I began filling it up with stuff quickly and ran to Kira’s room and did the same. I looked out the window and saw his car was still there which meant he could possibly be right back. I couldn’t believe he actually fucking hit me. He’s grabbed me and shook me up before but he’s never actually hit me. It was raining out pretty hard but it wasn’t nearly as bad as it was yesterday. I grabbed her backpack and our two bags and put them by the door. I grabbed a sweater and her rain gear and had her put it on while I did the same. I grabbed our bags and we ran for the car. Just as I was pulling out the driveway I saw Roger making his way back. He caught sight of me just as I was passing him on the street and he turned to chase the car. I stepped on it and soon he was out of sight. I was shaking in fear that he might follow me and with Kira in the car I couldn’t drive recklessly. I continued checking the rearview mirror and just as I began to relax I spotted his car. I couldn’t go into a hotel because he would just follow us. I thought about all my options and just drove trying to avoid him. It wasn’t until I was making a right to turn into the driveway did I realize that I was in front of Nick’s house. Security cleared us just as Roger got close. He seemed to check out the security and thought against trying to get in and sped past the house. My heart was beating really hard and fast and no matter how hard I tried I couldn’t get calm. I walked up to Nick’s front door with Kira and rang the bell. I wasn’t working so I didn’t feel it was appropriate to just let myself in no matter how much I wanted to. It took a bit but the door swung open and Nick was standing there with a confused look. He wasn’t wearing anything but a pair of pajama bottoms. I looked back to see Roger had parked along the street and was close enough to see him. I turned back to Nick and took a dry gulp.
“Nick, I need your help.”
Nick
I stood in the doorway staring at Mel. I could see her body visibly shaking and I stepped to the side so she could get in. She cleared the threshold and that’s when I noticed she had bags and wasn’t alone. There was a little person with her but I couldn’t see her face, I was sure that it was her daughter. She kept her head down as she spoke. “Nick, do you mind if I just stay here for a few hours? I promise we’ll stay out of your hair.”
I frowned. “What’s the matter? What happened?” I asked.
She shook her head. “Nothing.” I was getting pissed off because this is not Mel. She looked almost broken and I knew she wasn’t shaking from the cold. My senses went on high alert and my hands clenched. Something fucking happened to her and I needed to know. What
ever it was had to be big I doubt she would come to me if she had any other choice, even if we were starting to get along better now.
I heard a sniffle and I was just about to scream at her when I realized it wasn’t coming from Mel. I bent down and pushed back the little girl’s hood. She looked up at me and her eyes were red with tears and she looked scared. She had red hair like her mom and the same features but her eyes were a chocolate brown framed by thick lashes. She was beautiful just like her mom.
“What’s the matter pretty girl?” I asked her softly.
She briefly looked at her mom and then met my eyes. “I’m scared.”
I nodded and my heart clenched. I couldn’t fathom what the hell could’ve happened to have them both scared shitless. Did someone try to rob her or hurt her? “It’s ok I won’t hurt you I promise. I’m Nick, what’s your name?” I asked.
“Shakira Nichole Smith.” My eyebrows rose at that, she had Mel’s last name but this wasn’t the time to pry.
“Can you tell me what you’re scared of?” I asked.
She hesitated and then said in a low voice. “Roger. I think he did that to mommy.” She said looking towards Mel’s face. Mel turned the other way and I scowled.
“Did what?” I asked.
She sniffled. “Hurt her. He was yelling and he followed us here.” she said in a small voice as a tremor racked her body. I felt the sudden urge to scoop her up and comfort her but I was too on edge and afraid that I might not be able to do it properly.
I growled and stood up. “Look at me Mel.”
She shook her head no and I only got angrier. “It’s nothing Nick.” She tried to reassure me.
“Mel….” I prompted again getting impatient.
She sighed and turned her head further away from me. “I’m not going to ask you again. Now look at me Melanie.”
Her shoulders sagged in defeat and she looked up. I stepped closer to her and when I lifted a hand to remove her hood Shakira grabbed onto my leg and looked up at me with pleading eyes. I gave her a small smile to reassure her. “I’m not going to hurt your mom. She knows that, you can ask her.”
“Mommy is it ok?” Shakira asked.
Mel nodded. “Yes honey. He won’t ever hit me baby its ok.”
I let out a shaky breath. Hit her? My nerves were skyrocketing, scared of what I might find and what type of reaction was going to come out of me. I know myself and if it’s even half as bad as I’m thinking I’m going to lose my shit and the last thing I want to do is scare this little girl anymore. I held my breath and took down her hood. I brushed her hair back and put my finger under her chin to raise her head. I looked at her face and felt all the blood drain from mine. She had a big ass black ring around her right eye and there was a cut underneath it with a line of dried blood. The top of her lip was swollen and busted and all the areas in between were red and purple. He knocked the shit out of her and I wanted to murder him. I closed my eyes and tried to let my breathing get under control. I needed to calm myself before I went on a rampage.
“Who did that?” I asked through clenched teeth.
She shook her head. “Nick Please?” she pleaded.
“Who did it?”
She sighed in defeat. “Roger.” That was all I needed.
“And where were you planning on going in a couple of hours?” I asked.
She shrugged. “I was thinking of a hotel or something. He followed us here I was going to try to wait him out.”
I shook my head. “Give me your bags.” I told her holding out my hand.
She looked at me confused and gave them over. I made my way to the stairs and started to climb. “Where are you going?” she asked.
I didn’t turn back I just kept walking. “Putting your stuff in your rooms then I need a minute.”
I heard her footsteps. “What do you mean? You don’t have to do that we’re going to be leaving.”
“Melanie.” I growled and I heard her stop. She heeded my warning and left me alone. I dropped off the bags in the room Mel slept in last night since I didn’t know which bag belonged to whom. I went into my room and let out the slew of curses that had been sitting on the tip of my tongue. Mel was going to fucking talk to me today that was for damn sure. Once I got myself under a little bit of control I went back downstairs. They were sitting at the breakfast bar drinking water.
“You ok?” I asked Shakira.
She nodded and turned to Mel. “Mommy we forgot the food. I’m really hungry.”
I fought the growl threatening to escape and walked to the fridge. I pulled out the leftovers and made two plates. I microwaved them and brought it over to them. Shakira didn’t waste any time and dug right in without prompting. She polished off her plate and looked towards Mel. She looked completely defeated and was eating slowly. “You want some more?” I asked. She looked at me worriedly but didn’t respond. I softened my voice, “I have a lot more. I’d be happy to share with you.” I gave her a smile and she nodded. I fixed her a second plate which she ate slowly and by the time she was done so was Mel. I took their plates and cleaned up and they headed into the living room. We watched Dora the Explorer with Shakira until she yawned. She fell asleep shortly after and Mel was dozing off. I turned off the TV and picked up Shakira. Mel jostled awake and looked around disoriented.
“It’s ok I can do that.” She told me reaching for Shakira.
I ignored her and continued to the stairs. “I’m going to lay her down. Go find something to change into and I’ll meet you in my room. We’re going to talk.” I told her.
She gnawed on her bottom lip and when I sent her a glare her shoulders slumped and she went towards my room. I put Shakira in the other guest bedroom and laid her down leaving the door opened. I walked into my room just as Mel was pulling up some briefs and I got a glimpse of her ass in her boy shorts. This has to be the first time in history that lust was the last thing on my mind. When she was done I cleared my throat. She spun around and her cheeks pinked probably wondering how much I saw.
I saw the question in her eyes and exhaled. “I didn’t see much relax.” She let out a long breath and met my eyes hesitantly. “Sit” I ordered and she complied. Once she met my eyes again I crossed my arms. “Talk.” She lowered her gaze and that pissed me off. “No Mel, eyes.” I told her and her gaze swung back to mine.
“Fine. When I got home Shakira told me that she hadn’t eaten all day. Apparently Roger was so mad that I stayed last night that he didn’t feed her or anything. She’s a bit intimidated of him. I confronted him and he basically called me names and we got into a fight. When he started talking shit about Kira I lost it and I may have said something to piss him off.” She explained.
I frowned. “Why wouldn’t he feed his daughter if he’s mad at you, that doesn’t make sense. What does she have to do with this?” I asked.
She sighed. “Everything really.”
“You need to elaborate, and I didn’t hear anywhere in your story how the hell your face got like that. It sure as hell didn’t look like that when you left here.”
“He knows about our history and well he’s still sore about that time when I cheated on him when I visited you guys. He wasn’t very happy about us working together and I felt like this was just something simmering under the surface since I told him about the job.”
My eyebrows flew up in shock. “You told him about that?” I asked.
She nodded. “Yes, I didn’t want to lie besides I didn’t really have a choice.”
“I’m not following you can you, stop talking in half ass sentences just spit it all out. I’m not seeing how all of this factors in together. I mean I can see a bit about him being pissy with you working with me but all the pieces aren’t fitting together.” I told her completely confused.
She dropped her face into her hands and let out a sob. “God, this wasn’t supposed to happen. I swear it wasn’t I don’t see how fate could be so fucking cruel to me.”
I walked over to her and sat down on the
edge of the bed next to her. I rubbed her back and lifted her head. “Just talk to me Mel. I know I said that we couldn’t be friends, but you have to know I’m not letting you or her go out there and have to deal with that dick that thinks any of this shit is alright. Starving a kid, hitting his woman… none of it sits well with me in the least. I need to know what the hell is going on. I am not ok with anyone fucking hurting you do you hear me?”
“You’re going to hate me too Nick. You just stopped hating me and I know you’ll never forgive me.” She told me on a broken sob.
I sighed. “Mel you need me right now and you know that I will never fuck around with family now out with it. I don’t care if it’s going to piss me off, you should know me better by now. It’s not like I’m going to kick you out of the house or anything. It damn sure won’t be the first or last time you pissed me off.”
She let out a humorless laugh. “Well it hasn’t quite ever been a situation like this before.”
“Would you just tell me?” I asked her sure that she could hear my irritation.
She sighed. “Fine, but I need to start at the beginning. You know after we broke up I began seeing Roger. Then I went to meet Dean and all and well we said goodbye. When I got back to LA he knew something was up so I just told him and got it over with. He knew I wasn’t completely over you but he still wanted to get into a relationship so soon so he said he didn’t really blame me nor was he surprised since I had warned him. The only problem is that I found out I was pregnant about two months after that. He was a bit freaked out about it but assured me that everything would be fine. I had Shakira and then I stayed home with her while, I did my classes online. We stayed together throughout the whole time and he proposed to me at graduation. I agreed because I figured I must be lucky because I wouldn’t find a lot of guys like him you know? Having a child and stuff but he did. The only problem is I could never see myself actually marrying him, I mean there is just so much that’s always been missing in our relationship. I can’t stand him holding me and we’re barely intimate. Sometimes I feel like he’s the same person to me that he was when we first met, just a friend but after a while it started feeling like even less than that. He and Shakira got on well but after a while his mean and jealous side began showing and she really withdrew from him. It’s like she didn’t trust him. I thought it was just normal jealous shit but I also tended to ignore him a lot when it came to that. The first time he really lost it was after the wedding and he saw us dancing together. After that sometimes he would grab me and shake me but it never hurt or anything so I shrugged it off. Today while we were fighting he grabbed me but it was harder and more menacing than usual. He shook me up and slammed me against the wall and I hit my head. I got tired of him talking shit about me and Shakira and the things he said I knew then that I needed to get away from him for her sake. I would never have her live or be under the supervision of a person that could say those types of things about her. He kept asking me to admit that I slept with you and I got so angry that I told him I wanted to. He punched me and stormed out. I grabbed as much as I could as fast as possible so we could get out before he got back. He saw us when I pulled out and followed after us. I think he got afraid or something when he saw he would need to get through security so he parked down the block.”
Needing Her (The Lexington Series Book 3) Page 4