I grimaced, unsure what to tell her. “She hasn’t talked about it much, Mom. Maybe it’s because of everything else going on, but she hasn’t really dealt with the loss yet.”
“Oh, that’s not good, Theo. She needs to take time to grieve, or it’s only going to get worse.” She twisted her hands together, shaking her dark-red head. “Maybe I should fly out there and be with her. She needs a woman to help her through this right now.”
“Raven is taking good care of her,” I told her, giving her a quick kiss on the cheek. “But once I bring her home, you can take care of her all you want, Mom.”
Light footsteps approaching had me lifting my head as Sofia walked into the room. When she saw me, her eyes lit up and then darkened when she glanced around and didn’t see Tavia. “Where is she?” she demanded, crossing her arms over her chest. “What have you done with Tavia?”
“She’s somewhere safe,” was all I told her.
“You left her in some godforsaken safe house?” my sister seethed. “All alone with no one she knows to care for her while she’s still recovering from being shot? How heartless can you be, you selfish bastard?”
“Sofia,” Mom scolded. “You don’t know anything about what is going on, so stop treating your brother like he’s a douchebag.”
Sofia snorted. “Could have fooled me.”
“I didn’t leave her alone. She’s got people I trust watching over her. She’s being well cared for, and she wants for nothing.” When my sister only continued to glare at me, I threw up my hands. “Believe me or don’t. I’m done discussing it with you. This is none of your business anyway.”
“All right, that’s enough,” Mom snapped.
“No, Mom,” Sofia said with a shake of her head. “It’s not nearly enough. That’s the whole problem. But I’m done discussing it too. So, don’t worry, I won’t bring it up again. After all, Theo is the one who is dicking around all over town, while the girl he should be taking care of is God only knows where.”
“What is that supposed to mean?” I demanded, getting more pissed with my sister by the second.
She shoved her phone screen in my face. “Want to tell me why you’re fucking around with Courtney Blanco while my best friend is still recovering from being shot?”
A picture of me lifting the blonde from earlier was in Sofia’s social media feed. The picture had been taken just as I’d picked her up, so my hands were on her waist and she was lifted off her feet. If someone didn’t know what happened next—that I’d put her away from me and walked off—they could easily assume the blonde had wrapped her legs around my waist.
“Nothing to say?” Sofia said with a humorless laugh. “I’m not surprised. You are such an asshole, Theo. Tavia deserves so much better than you.”
Mom took the phone, her eyes narrowing when she saw the picture. “Theo… After all that poor girl has been put through recently, you do this? I thought I raised you better. I thought you were a better man than to—”
“Mom,” I cut her off, my voice full of ice. “I only picked her up to get her away from me. I would never do something like that to Tavia.”
“Sure you wouldn’t,” Sofia sneered. “You’re like every other man on the planet, dear brother. Heartless and only thinking with your dick. Tavia is better off without you. I should have warned her off you when I first realized she had a crush on you. I can only blame myself, though.”
“This picture is very damning, Theo.” Mom shook her head sadly. “If Tavia were to see it, I’m sure it would cause her untold pain. Especially right now when she’s so vulnerable.”
A door slamming had us all turning. I grabbed my mom and sister, pushing them behind me, only then noticing that Samara was no longer in the room with us.
Pops stormed into the room, his face tense and gray. “We have a problem,” he announced. “They found her.”
Fuck. I never should have left her, not even for a second.
“I have to go,” I muttered, already running for the door.
“Theo, be careful,” Mom called after me. “Please, honey. Don’t do anything reckless.”
“Theo…” Sofia’s pleading voice stopped me at the front door, and I turned impatiently to look at her. “Please, take care of Tavia…and yourself.”
“I will, Sof. I promise.”
Chapter 17
Tavia
The night wore on, and it didn’t seem like I was going anywhere anytime soon. I overheard Raven’s brothers talking, saying that the structure of the house had to be checked out before anyone could go back in, but apparently they had a contractor who could do all of that the next morning.
I sat on the couch in a blanket Raven had wrapped around me, curled into a ball.