Chapter 26
ASHER
It’s been quiet since the twins left. I’ve sent them a couple of messages to check in with them, and as far as I can tell, they are getting wasted back on campus.
I worry that perhaps I should be with them.
Keep an eye on them and make sure they don’t get themselves into trouble, but I can’t leave Lily like this. She’s a mess.
She falls into the armchair in the living room and stares into space. I approach her numerous times and ask if I can get her anything, but she gives me the slightest shake of her head and nothing else.
I clean up the lunch, most of which was left uneaten, and do the dishes before cleaning the kitchen. When that’s done, I take a glass of water and put it on the table next to Lily, but she never touches it, and when I heat up leftovers for dinner later on, she leaves that untouched, too.
By nine in the evening, I’ve had enough of watching her wallow, so I scoop her up in my arms and carry her to bed, where she lets me undress her and tuck her in, before sliding in behind her and pulling her back against my chest.
A sob escapes her then, and I squeeze her closer as she starts to cry.
“I f-fucking h-hate h-him.”
“I know,” I rasp, pressing my lips to her silky hair. “He’s a fucking twat for putting you in that position.”
I’ve never wanted to kill someone more than this afternoon when Alex was here. He’s one of those people who blames everyone else and never takes responsibility. One day I’m going to tear his heart from his chest and present it to Lily. For some reason, I think she’d like that.
“Is that the secret you’ve been keeping?” I ask, knowing we’ve been having our own disagreement on the matter. I don’t want to make her feel worse, but if it’s what she’s been so distressed about lately, then at least I can understand.
“No,” she whispers, and her honesty surprises me.
“No?”
She shakes her head.
“Any chance you’re gonna tell me?” I ask and again she shakes her head.
“I’m sorry. I can’t.”
My heart sinks, although at least she’s not lying. She could have said that her worries had to do with Alexander and the daughter he never told his sons about. Instead, she admitted that it wasn’t the reason for her worries.
“Okay,” I whisper, pressing another kiss to her hair. “But just so you know. I’m a good secret keeper, if you ever want to share it.”
She rolls over in my arms to bury her head in the crook of my neck as she cries silently again. Her arms band around me so tightly that it’s like she’s afraid if she lets go, I’ll disappear.
Which is exactly what I do around two in the morning when she’s finally sleeping soundly.
Alexander’s presence has reminded me that my mum is shacked up with a fucking addiction feeding motherfucker—literally—and I haven’t been able to check in with her yet.
It’s a risky move, but as I silently wheel my motorbike down the street so it doesn’t wake Lily when I start it, I know I’ll never be able to sleep tonight until I see my mum for myself. Even if it’s from a distance.
Riding across town, I park my bike a couple of blocks from the house I was meant to grow up in but was never there enough to call home, and I walk through the quiet streets of Hedgwick until I’m standing across the road from my house.
Just like I remember from back when I was a kid, it doesn’t matter what time of day it is. Like a number of the houses in this neighbourhood, the lights are on, music is playing with a thumping beat, and the curtains are open so anyone and everyone can see straight in.
And fuck… there, on the living room couch is my mum, pale, sunken skin, bony with no meat on her frame as she rides Monty’s lap.
Fuck!
I see red and reach for the blade in my pocket when the cold barrel of a gun presses against my temple.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”
I growl low in the back of my throat as I recognise the voice of one of Monty’s main dealers.
“Okay, Carlo.” I raise my hands slowly, not wanting to provoke the jittery fucker.
“Now, correct me if I’m wrong,” Carlo reaches into my pocket and removes my knife, “but doesn’t Monty have a restraining order against you?”
“Correct.” I nod as Carlo takes a step back so I can see part of his face under the shadows of the tree.
“Hmmm. Then why, may I ask, are you here right now? Watching your whore of a mother fuck him?”
My lip twitches as I grind my back molars, trying to talk myself out of leaping on the guy pointing a gun at me.
“I was just out for a stroll.” I shrug, nonchalant. “Must have accidentally taken a wrong turn.”
“You’re so full of shite.” Carlo chuckles. “But I’ll tell you what. If you give me the fifteen grand you won at the fight on Thursday night, I’ll turn a blind eye to your little evening stroll.”
My brows hitch at his words. No way am I trusting this fucker. He’d likely gut me the moment I handed the cash over.
But I can bluff.
“You mean the fifteen grand I have in my jocks?”
Carlo’s bushy black brows shoot high, and he looks down at my pants.
“You have it on you?”
“Of course. There’s nowhere safer to keep it than inside my jocks.”
As if my words make total fucking sense to him, he nods, looking excited.
“Yeah. Yeah. Give me the cash. Now.”
I nod, shoving my hand into my pants, pretending to rummage around to find the stack of bills that aren’t there.
When I pull my hand free, I quickly throw it up like I’m throwing the money up in the air, and the fucker falls for it, looking up to see where the cash went. Meanwhile, I’m already barging forward, sending a quick jab to his throat, and hitting the gun away to clatter to the concrete path.
All the fury that’s built up inside me from the last couple of days comes streaming out with each pummel of my fists as I slam them over and over into his head, not stopping as he falls to the ground.
I grip his hoodie to tug him towards me as I continue to slam my fists into his face, bone crunching, blood spraying, until I’m sure he’s alive just enough to still comprehend my words.
“You tell Monty that if he lays another hand on my mum, or even tries to fuck her again, I’ll do worse than this to him.”
I snarl in Carlo’s face, shoving his head back hard against the concrete path with a sickening crunch, and step over his nearly lifeless form as I make my way back to my Triumph.
I really fucking hope Monty gets my message loud and clear, because I’m coming for him. Really fucking soon.