Royal takes one step forward, and she stops dead in her tracks. “You’re going to get sober, or you’re never seeing your daughter again,” he says, his quiet voice full of command. “No one’s going to force you to go, but I’d take a minute to think about that before you decide.”
“Mom,” I say, my throat tight. “I’ve heard it’s really nice there. Celebrities go and everything. Maybe you’ll meet—Jace Wilder or Amy Bedgood or…”
“You’re trying to lock me up?” she asks incredulously. “After all I sacrificed for you, you think I’m no better than your no-good daddy who never even wanted to see your face. Now you’re going to make me rot in jail just like him?”
“It’s better than you deserve after what you asked her to do,” Royal growls. “This is the best offer you’re ever going to get, Ms. Apple. So either take it, or say goodbye to your daughter and get the fuck out of my sight.”
Mom’s eyes widen, and she looks back and forth between us and the two men from Cedar Crest. She licks her lips and meets my gaze, her eyes desperate, like the trapped animal she is. “I… I did hear it was real nice,” she says at last.
“It will be,” I say, my chest tight with the pressure of all the words inside me that want to explode out, to fill the house and the world with my fury and hurt and love for my mother.
“We can help you pack some things to make your stay more comfortable,” says one of the Cedar Crest guys. “Whatever you need, ma’am.”
Mom nods, biting her lip. She holds my gaze one more second before turning and going into her room. The men squeeze past us and follow her, and I turn and press my face into Royal’s chest, holding onto him and willing back the tears until the urge passes. Then we get my toiletries and a bag of clothes. I stop in the door to Mom’s room on the way out.
“I’ll come visit,” I say. “I really hope it help, Mom.”
“My own daughter, getting rid of me like trash,” she says to one of the men, shaking her head. “You’d think after eighteen years of giving up everything for her and getting kicked in the teeth at every turn, I’d be used to it.”
I wait, part of me clinging to the hope that she’ll come over and hug me, even though she doesn’t deserve a hug. Still, she’s my mom.
She’s too busy telling them how ungrateful I am, though. After a minute, I swallow down the ache in my throat and turn away. Royal takes my hand and leads me out of the house I’ve hated for so many years. I’m not sure why a pang of sadness goes through me at leaving now.
“Where are we going?” I ask.
“My house,” he says.
“I don’t even know where you live,” I say, a little laugh escaping at the ridiculousness of that statement. I know Royal down to his deepest traumas, better even than his own brothers do. He’s bruised my cervix, cum down my throat, in my ass, even on my eyeballs. And somehow, I don’t even know if he lives in a dorm this year.
“You know where I live,” he says, giving me a funny look.
Olive waves to me from her porch, and I tell Royal to wait while I jog over. “Where’s your sister?” I ask.
“Working,” Olive says. “She told me to stay out here until she’s done, but I’m not supposed to leave the porch.”
“Can you tell her I’m moving in with Royal?” I ask.
“His name is Royal?” she asks, her eyes going wide with awe.
“Yeah,” I say, smiling up at her. “Tell Blue where I went, and I’ll come by and take you for a ride in the Escalade next week. Okay?”
“Can we go get burgers and go to the quarry again?”
“Sure, Olive. It’s a date.”
I spare one more glance at the only real house I’ve ever lived in, and then I climb into Royal’s Range Rover, and I tell him I’m ready. I don’t look back as he drives away.
fifteen
Harper Apple
“I made it abundantly clear that no one in this family is to touch a hair on your head, or there will be consequences,” Royal says, stepping into his bedroom and pulling the door closed behind him.
“Because I’m yours?” I ask.
“I’m glad we’re on the same page about that,” he says.
“Ugh, you’re infuriating.”