Chapter 18
Eighteen
Iwatch from my vehicle as Cinder knocks on the motel room door.
What the hell is she doing at this dive motel on the county line? Is she meeting someone? My hands grip the steering wheel even tighter with the thought that she’s been playing me.
Thankfully, I don’t lose my shit and storm out of my car because the woman who opens the door is someone I recognize. She’s one of the other dancers at TT’s. Maybe Cinder’s just visiting a friend? Though she’s never come here after any of her shifts at TT’s before. She usually goes to Black Magic Bar or Midnight Manor.
Continuing to watch the room, I see the other woman leave a few minutes later, but Cinder remains inside. I settle in, wondering what she’s doing and why she’s staying when her friend is leaving. Cinder hasn’t moved her things out of Midnight Manor. I’ve given the staff strict instructions to let me know when they go in to clean her room daily.
Maybe she decided to leave the manor, leaving all her stuff behind, because of how on and off I’ve been. I ate her out on her birthday then ignored her for weeks. She probably doesn’t know what to make of me or what I want.
But she’s never mentioned what happened—either at TT’s or on her birthday. She’s never pushed me to explain myself. Almost as though she understands that I need time to get my head on straight. Though try as I might, it still feels inevitable that something between us is going to break. It’s like we’re barrelling down the tracks, a runaway train with no brakes, and at some point, we’re going to collide. The question is, what will the damage be afterward?
I can’t get this woman out of my system, and I fear that if I give all of myself to her, I might become more obsessed than ever. But it’s becoming harder and harder to control my urge to claim her.
I watch for another hour, but it’s getting late, and I’m tired. Between watching Cinder all the time and trying to keep up with things at Voss Enterprises, sleep is a rarity these days.
I must drift off, but I’m woken by shouting. I bolt up and look at room three. Cinder and a man are standing in front of the door, the man screaming at her.
What the fuck?
I bolt out of the car and run toward the room, seeing the sleazebag with his hand on Cinder’s arm, pushing her against the brick wall.
This motherfucker must have a death wish.
I plow him over, both of us falling to the ground, me on top of him. Cinder yelps, but all I can think of is making this guy pay for putting his hands on Cinder.
He fights, wiggling under me, but I throw a leg over and straddle him. My fists hit him over and over. He tries to get a punch in on me from below, but I dodge it.
“How dare you lay your filthy fucking hands on her.” I punch him in the face right where blood is already trickling down his cheek. He groans. “I ought to slice you open and rip out your insides, you piece of shit.” I hit him again, the crack of cartilage echoing in the darkness. Blood splatters all over me.
“Nero!” Cinder’s hands wrap around my bicep.
I look at her over my shoulder, and her eyes are wide and full of fear.
Fear of me?
You’d think I’d beat the shit out of myself from the worthless feeling inside me.
I look down at the asshole. He groans, holding his hand to his nose. He’s not fighting back anymore. My chest heaves, but I’m satisfied he’s not an immediate threat to Cinder. I get off him.
“Are you okay?” I clutch her shoulders, looking her up and down. She’s not bleeding, so that’s a good sign.
She nods, her eyes falling to the bastard, her face still stricken with fear.
“Is he your ex? Is that why you were trying to get me off him?”
Her gaze picks up, staring at me. “No. His kids are inside, and they’re scared.”
The boiling anger dissipates. Now the situation makes sense. She’s watching her friend’s kids, and this guy is obviously tied to her friend.
I turn back around and stand over him. “Get the hell out of here and don’t think of coming back. Understood?”
He glares at me, wincing when he touches his broken nose. “I should fucking sue you for breaking my nose.”
I scoff. “I’d like to see you try. Now get the fuck out of here and don’t come back.” I bend down and grab the front of his shirt, yanking him to his feet. “Go.”
I shove him toward the parking lot. He stumbles, looks as if he wants to say more, but wisely turns and staggers off toward an old pickup. It doesn’t turn over right away, but eventually the starter catches, and the engine roars to life. As he drives away, he flips us off, screaming something I can’t hear.
Now that he’s gone, I give Cinder my undivided attention. “Are you sure you’re not hurt?”
“Just shaken.” She turns and knocks on the motel room door. “Dahlia, it’s Cinder. Everything is okay now. Can you open the door?”
There’s no sound or movement from behind the door.
Her shoulders sag, then she looks at me with tears in her eyes and whispers, “They’re probably so scared.” She knocks again. “Dahlia, it’s okay. He’s gone, and everything is fine. Can you open the door please, sweetie?”
We wait for thirty seconds before we hear movement behind the cheap door, then the sound of a deadbolt turning, and the door cracks open an inch.
Cinder sighs in relief. “Are you and Rose okay?”
The door opens a little more, and a little girl with mousy brown hair stands there in her PJs. Her eyes widen when she spots me.
“It’s okay, it’s okay. This is my friend, Nero.” Cinder puts her hand on my arm.
I smile and hold up a hand in a wave, then crouch down to her height. “Hi, Dahlia. I’m one of Cinder’s good friends. Would it be okay if I came and hung out with you guys until your mom gets back?”
Her gaze darts between Cinder and me before she nods.
We go in the room, and Dahlia scurries to the far bed and tucks herself under the covers as if the thin bedspread is a protective barrier from all the shit going on in her life. Cinder heads toward the bathroom and comes out holding the hand of a younger girl who resembles her sister. She scurries up on the bed to sit beside Dahlia.
“Rose, this is my friend, Nero. He’s going to hang out with us until your mom gets back just in case there’s any more trouble, okay?”
Rose nods.
Cinder walks over to me, bringing me by the hand over to the corner of the room.
“I need to call Lisa and tell her what happened just in case he shows up at work,” she says in a low voice. “Can you stay out here while I make the call in the bathroom?”
I nod.
She looks back at the girls. “I’m just going to make a quick call in the bathroom. Be right back.” Her voice holds false cheer that I’m sure the girls see through, but I still admire how Cinder’s handling the situation.
Not a surprise. This woman always amazes me.
While she’s in the bathroom, I send a few texts. A few minutes later, the bathroom door opens, and Cinder comes out.
“Good news! Your mom is on her way back.”
Both girls nod, though they’re holding one another’s hands, not ready to let go.
The four of us sit in silence, watching a kid’s show that makes me want to gouge out my eyeballs. Seriously, it’s painful.
A half hour later, a knock sounds on the door. I put my hand up to stop Cinder from approaching, and I go to the door and look through the peephole.
“It’s me,” says a woman from the other side of the door.
Sure enough, it’s the woman who left a while back. I unlock the deadbolt and swing the door open. Lisa, as I now know her, rushes in but stops when she sees me.
“This is my friend, Nero,” Cinder says. “He helped calm things down.”
I’m not sure I’d put it that way, but hey, whatever.
Lisa nods and continues straight to her daughters. She wraps her arms around them both. “Are you girls okay?”
Their little hands grip their mom as though they’re afraid she might disappear, and the youngest sobs into her mom’s chest.
My chest squeezes, and my hand rubs over my heart to relieve the ache. I was once like that little girl.
Pushing that thought out of my mind, I clear my throat. “I arranged for you to stay somewhere else. Wrote the information down on the notepad.” I gesture to the small, scarred table in the corner. “It’s a little farther out from”—I glance at the two small girls—“your work, but there’s security, and no one gets in or out unless they’re a guest.”
Lisa watches me as though maybe I’m the predator, then her eyes flicker to Cinder with a questioning expression. She untangles herself from her daughters and walks over to the table, picking up the notepad.
“I can’t afford this place.” She drops the notepad back on the table.
“You don’t have to. My family owns it. You can stay there as long as you need to, free of charge.”
Cinder’s gaze bores into the side of my head, but I don’t look over. No, I shift uncomfortably on my feet because I’m not used to being the one who swoops in like the superhero. I’m more the villain type the superhero is trying to save people from.
Lisa looks between Cinder and me a couple of times, then seems to realize her best bet here is to say thank you and not look a gift horse in the mouth. Good. If I had to work to convince her my motives were true, I might just tell her to forget the whole fucking thing.
“Thank you,” she says. “That’s really nice of you.”
“Can we help you pack up?” Cinder asks.
“There’s not much, but yeah. That’d be great. I want to get out of here in case Freddie decides to return.”
Once we’ve packed up Lisa and her girls’ meager belongings and put them in her vehicle with the girls, Cinder and I watch them drive off into the night.
Cinder turns to me under the stark one light in the parking lot. “That was a really nice thing for you to do.”
I shove my hands in my pockets. “No child should have to grow up around violence.” I don’t look at her, but I feel her eyes on me.
We’re both silent for a beat.
“I guess I’ll drive home now. My car is just parked over there.” She gestures with her hand.
“Leave it. You’re riding home with me. One of the staff will pick it up.”
She doesn’t argue and walks toward my vehicle, getting in as I said, and the fucked up part of me purrs from her doing my bidding.
Her eyes are on me as I start the car.
I look over. “What?”
Her blue eyes are wide. “Nero, what were you doing here when Freddie showed up? Why were you here?”
Fuck, with all the crap going on, I forgot she would question why I was in the parking lot of a dingy motel. I’m going to have to come clean with her. But I’m starting to think that maybe the obsessive, domineering side of me is about keeping her safe and protecting her, not about controlling her everyday life?we’ll save that for the bedroom.