I had no doubt that the tone of my voice gave it away that something was seriously wrong. “What? What the hell happened?” He demanded.
“My aunt just kicked me out.”
“Motherfucker! I'll call Dom and we'll be there in twenty minutes. And Lark?”
“Yeah.”
“Fuck yes, I want you for my roommate.”
My next call was to Poppy to let her know what was going on. She said a word I'd never heard her use before. “Wait, my dad wants to talk to you,” she said.
“Lark, are you all right?” Mr. Wright sounded pissed.
“Yeah, I'm okay,” I replied weakly, because the anger was fading into hurt.
“I can come over there right now and give that woman a piece of my mind. I could even scare her with some legal jargon.”
“No, I'm okay with leaving, Mr. Wright, but thank you. It means a lot to me that you would.”
“You're like another daughter to Priscilla and me, surely you know that. You're welcome to come live here.”
“Thanks, but I'm going to stay with Bastian.”
“You sure about that, Lark? Maybe you should take a few weeks to really think about it.”
“I'm sure.”
“Bastian is probably who you want to be with, but once everything settles, please reconsider staying with us.” The hesitation in my reply had him adding, “Promise, you'll at least think about it.”
“I will.”
“We're here for you, Lark, whenever you need us.”
I felt tears burning the back of my eyes. “I love you, Mr. Wright.”
He was silent for a moment. “I love you too, Lark.” His voice sounded thick with tears.
***
I was packing up my clothes in a duffel bag when I heard Bastian's voice and, boy, did he sound angry. I unlocked my door just as he and his brother were coming up the stairs. I almost felt sorry for my aunt, because they both looked really pissed. Bastian walked right to me and pulled me into a hug.
“I'm so sorry,” he said.
“I'm not.”
“I want you with me, but your aunt's methods suck.”
“I second that,” Dominic said as he moved into my room and started packing my art case.
We spent the next two hours packing the things I needed immediately in various crates and bags I had handy in my closet. There was a commotion moments before my uncle appeared in my room with a very worried-looking Aunt Kim right behind him.
“What the hell do you mean you're moving out? You're barely legal.”
My eyes flew to Aunt Kim and I now understood her worried look. I had always known that she lied to my uncle about me, but not to this insane extent. I was about to enlighten my uncle on the manipulative woman he married, but before I could say anything, Bastian moved, in all of his inked, hard-ass glory, to tower over him.
“Your wife kicked her out.” His blazing gaze turned to my aunt. “At least have the balls to admit it.”
“Wait, one minute.” My uncle tried to defend his wife, but Bastian wasn't having any of it.