“Daddy…”
“I’ll be right back.”
He left, leaving me alone. It couldn’t be any more perfect. My feet were moving on their own, and before I knew what I was doing, I opened one of the drawers, seeing nothing that would be of use to me. I reached in, moving everything to see if I could find something that may answer all my insecurities.
Nothing.
Nowhere.
I couldn’t find one fucking thing.
Staring up at the ceiling, I breathed out, “God, please help me.”
As if answering my prayers, a cellphone dinged with a text message. Not just any cellphone…
My father’s.
I walked toward it, feeling like this was the moment where the truth would make itself known. I didn’t know why, but each step that brought me closer to his phone had me questioning everything. Until finally, I picked up his phone. Swiping it over, unlocking his screen with the code he had used since I was a little girl.
Written in plain sight was the truth.
Never in a million years did I think…
The truth wouldn’t set me free.
Instead, it buried me alive.CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO“Stuck in a generation where loyalty is just a tattoo, love is just a quote, and lying is the new truth.” —Mr. Villain Quotes
Romeo
She was late.
And I was turning into one of those annoying as hell people who constantly checked their phone and looked out the kitchen window for her SUV.
Nothing.
Naz’s school had been over for hours, and it wasn’t like her to just keep him out.
He was always starving after school, so unless she took him to eat and then shop, which he hated, something was wrong. I’d called her father only to get a grunt on the other line, which made me wonder if I should put on a cup and pray she didn’t have good aim.
Things had been better.
When I had found her in my apartment, I was more surprised at first that she’d taken the initiative to look into things, and then annoyed that the only thing my brain could focus on was that we’d been alone in my apartment and that my bed hadn’t seen any female in it—ever.
I never brought women back to my place.
The very thought that Eden had been a mere few feet from my bedroom, from christening that mattress, had me both unsteady with need and fucking hard as nails.
Hell, even her yelling at me hadn’t made the lust go away. If anything, I wanted her all the more for it.
I loved her anger.
Missed it.
Missed the fire I used to see behind her eyes, the fight that somehow lessened every year she was married to my brother like he somehow stole pieces of her personality until there was nothing left.
At this point, I’d probably welcome a good kick to the balls. At least then I’d know she still felt, she still cared, she was still my Eden.
Mine.
Headlights flickered in the distance.
I bolted toward the door only to stop a few feet away from it. What the hell was I doing? With a curse, I turned away and braced my hands against the kitchen counter, counting the seconds until the car’s engine turned off.
I measured the steps she took to get to the door—nine.
I sucked in a sharp breath at the twist of the lock.
Tried like hell not to look up when she walked in and clicked the door shut behind her; she locked it as if she was trying to keep someone out when all she ever should have been worried about was letting me in.
Eden peered up then stopped in her tracks like she was frozen in place; her eyes darted behind me to the living room and then back to me again.
Her keys fell to the ground in a loud crash, and I couldn’t tell if she was angry or terrified.
“Eden?” I tilted my head. “Is everything okay? Where’s Naz?”
“Safe,” she snapped while something flashed in her eyes before she picked up her keys and very slowly walked into the kitchen.
She walked right past me.
Which pissed me off.
Hadn’t things been better? “What the hell do you mean safe?”
I reached out and grabbed her wrist, keeping her from going past me.
“Let go,” she whispered, still not looking at me.
“Eden, what happened?”
A tear slid down her cheek. “Nothing.”
“Talk to me.” I squeezed her wrist then tugged her against me until both hands pressed against my chest. “I can keep him safe. I have been keeping him safe, you too, so why isn’t he here? Why are you lying to me?”
She tried pulling away. I pinned my arms around her body and held her close, so close I could feel her heartbeats, measure her small breaths.
“Let go.” Another tear slid down. “Please.”
“I don’t understand.” I shook my head. “I’m here to protect you, and you’re looking at me like I’m going to murder you any second. I would never touch you or Naz, you know that—”