Chapter 18 #2
My brow quirked as I leaned against the island, crossing one ankle over the other. “Are you finished?” Her reply was to glare daggers at me. “If you must know, I came to see you and found Billie here on her own-”
“On her own? Alec was supposed to be looking after her.”
“Yeah, well, he decided work was more important.”
She muttered a curse, her eyes hardening. “You should have phoned me,” she snapped, accusation heavy in her tone.
In three strides, I crossed the kitchen, gripping her chin between my thumb and finger and making her look up at me. “Watch your tone, Kiki. I have no problem teaching you respect, regardless of whether Billie is here or not.”
I glowered at her, silently daring her to challenge me, and kinda hoping she would. I had a number of ideas rolling around my brain as to how I would teach her respect, and all of them involved her ass getting a damn good spanking.
She yanked her chin free, her shoulders slumping. “I’m sorry. I didn’t think Alec would leave her. He’s never done that before.”
“That you know of.”
Her eyes closed as she released a heavy exhale. “That I know of.” She fell silent for several long seconds, and when she finally opened her eyes, tears shimmered in them. “Thank you for being here for her. I…I appreciate it.”
Unable to resist, I reached out and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “It was my pleasure. She’s a good kid, Kiki. You’ve done a good job with her.”
A thick tension settled around us, and I realized I hadn’t taken my hand away from cupping her cheek. Not meaning to, my gaze dropped to her lips, and fuck, every single part of me ached to kiss her.
To wrap her and Billie in my arms and claim them so Alec could never hurt either one of them.
The kitchen door creaked open, and I jumped back. Kiera wiped her palms down the front of her jeans as Billie poked her head in. “Mom, can we carry on playing poker now? Jackson owes me fifty dollars.”
Kiera chuckled as she met my stare, her brow raised. “Did James not tell you he’s trained a master poker player?”
“No. Must have slipped his mind,” I huffed, before grinning at Billie. “Come on then, Bilbo. Deal the cards and maybe try to give me a shot at winning my money back.”
As the afternoon rolled on, all thoughts of Alec leaving Billie alone, or him even returning from work, had disappeared from my mind. Kiera and Billie’s too, if their carefree laughter was anything to go by.
I’d long since given up trying to win my money back, reluctantly accepting that Billie was a darn good poker player, and encouraging her to keep at it because one day, she’d be good enough to play professionally.
With the poker chips packed away, I was about to leave when Billie begged me to stay so we could play Monopoly. Remembering how Kiera used to have tantrums whenever she lost at the game, I decided it was too good an opportunity to miss.
For the last hour, we’d been moving our pieces around the board, and finally, I was winning at something, much to both Kiera and Billie’s dismay.
“That’s mine!” Kiera squealed when I landed on Baltic Avenue with two houses.
“Chill, woman. It’s like four dollars.”
“Sixty with two houses, actually,” she replied, grinning like she’d won an Olympic gold medal.
I scoffed, sorting through my pile of fake money to pay what I owed. Kiera snatched it out of my hand, smirking at me as she kissed the bills. I couldn’t help but chuckle. She hadn’t changed at all when it came to the game.
“Come on, Mom, we can still beat him,” Billie added, rolling the dice for her turn.
“Traitor. I thought we were friends,” I grumbled, poking my tongue out.
“There are no friends in monopoly. Just enemies.”
Kiera laughed heartily. “Who knew my daughter was such a savage when it comes to board games?”
“She gets it from you,” I said, taking the dice once Billie had moved her piece, the ship.
“What? I’m not a savage!”
I raised a brow. “Oh no? Don’t you remember the time when you robbed the bank and tried to convince James and me that you forgot about the stash of money you’d been sitting on?”
“Mom, you robbed the bank?” Billie asked, grinning broadly.
“I did no such thing,” Kiera protested, feigning outrage. “I had forgotten about the stash. I was hiding it because you two always laughed at me whenever I ran out of money.”
“Sure, sure.” I rolled the dice, counting eleven spaces as I moved my car, but seeing Billie lean over to Kiera in my periphery.
“Will you teach me how to do it?” she whispered to her mom.
Kiera burst into hysterical laughter, and I froze mid-way moving the car to the final space, my gaze lifting to her. Her head was thrown back as the first real laugh I’d heard from her in years filled the room.
My chest constricted, and my lungs forgot how to work. I was helpless but to stare at Kiera, enchanted by the woman sitting opposite me. For a moment, she wasn’t the girl who’d broken my heart. She wasn’t the woman I wanted to destroy.
She was my everything.
When she lowered her head, tears of happiness shone in her eyes, and a genuine smile was plastered on her face. I couldn’t look away. She was so fucking beautiful, it hurt.
It hurt that she was wasting her life with an asshole who didn’t deserve her.
It hurt that she wasn’t mine.
It hurt knowing she’d given herself to someone else all those years ago and thrown away the life we could have had together.
Abruptly, I stood, the chair clattering to the floor. The smile fell from Kiera’s face, and Billie peered up at me with confusion twisted on her cute features. I scrubbed a hand down my face, willing my lungs to start working again so I could breathe.
“I…uh…I’m sorry. I just remembered…I, uh,” I stuttered, flailing around for an excuse. “I forgot I was meeting someone. I need to go.”
I didn’t give Kiera a chance to reply before I practically sprinted from the house. Reaching my car, I hit the gas, and for several hours, I drove around aimlessly, cursing myself for allowing Kiera to sink her claws into me once more.