Chapter 12
DARCY
Crow turned around with a horrified look on his face, but when he glanced back at her, it turned to anger as he asked, “What are you doing here, Becca?”
Brighten hopped up out of her chair and pulled the door open before she said, “Hawk, take Griff home, please. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
I couldn’t see Hawk, but I watched Phoenix turn around to look at Brighten before his gaze moved on to the woman who had just walked in. He frowned as he stood up, then nudged Griffin toward Hawk before he said something I couldn’t hear.
“Hi, Brighten,” the woman said as she and Brighten stared each other down. She suddenly broke into a broad, disturbing smile before she said, “This is Revna. I call her Rev.”
“What are you doing here?” Crow asked again, barely glancing at the child.
I took another step closer to the woman and inhaled deeply through my nose. I cleared my throat before I stepped back, horrified at the realization that the woman had gotten high very recently . . . probably just outside Crow’s house.
Phoenix was studying the woman closely and narrowed his eyes when I coughed to clear my throat. Suddenly, his face transformed with an almost blinding smile as he walked around the table and put his arms out toward the little girl.
“Come see Uncle Nix, little buttercup!”
“She’s gorgeous huh?” the woman asked. The child all but threw herself into Phoenix’s arms, and he smiled down at her before he put his head next to hers and sniffed. I knew he’d smelled the same substance I had when he winced and his eyes burned with anger.
“Hello, sweetheart,” Phoenix all but purred to the girl in his arms. “Wanna come outside and see some puppies?” The little girl squealed in excitement as Phoenix walked toward the door and asked, “Do you like puppies, buttercup? I bet you do.”
“She loves animals,” the woman announced. Without her daughter in her arms, she didn’t seem to know what to do with her hands, so she let them fall to her side and instantly started drumming a beat on her thigh with one finger. “So, long time no see, huh?”
“I’m gonna ask one more time, Becca. What are you doing at my damn house?”
“I tried to call, but I . . . um . . . lost your number when I got a new phone.”
“You didn’t answer my fucking question.”
“I need help, Crow.”
“Hello, Captain Obvious,” Brighten snapped sarcastically without looking up from her phone.
She was typing so fast that her thumbs were almost a blur.
I wondered if she was explaining to Hawk why she’d sent him away with Griff.
If that were the case, I’d give almost anything to see that text so I could figure out what was going on and why everyone was so freaked out.
She laid her phone down before she looked from Becca to Crow and back again, waiting for one of them to say something.
So was I, especially since I didn’t know the history here or why she would be coming to Crow for help.
I soon found out when she said, “I need a job.”
“How is that my fucking problem?” Crow asked incredulously. “Start filling out applications like everyone else does.”
The woman looked around before she said, “I also need a place for me and Rev to stay while I get back on my feet.”
Crow scoffed before he asked, “How long have you been back on the shit?”
“I’m not!”
“I hear you talking, but everything about you right now is telling me that’s a lie.”
I walked around the table and picked up my phone, not because I wanted to call anyone, but because I felt like I needed to be closer to Crow. He was almost vibrating with anger, and Brighten didn’t seem to be handling the situation much better.
“How long, Rebecca?”
“I’m here to talk to Crow, not his other baby mama,” the woman said snidely.
Brighten laughed, but there was no joy in it. If anything, it sounded malicious. “Now, Becca. You and I both fucking know that Crow isn’t the father of either of our children. Hell, he wouldn’t even fuck you with someone else’s dick.”
Rebecca seemed to take that as a challenge and closed the distance between her and Crow in just a few steps. When she lifted her hand to touch him, he shrank back, and I stepped over to take his place.
“I may be overstepping here, but I feel like I should let you know that if you put your hands on him, I will rip your fucking arm off and beat you to death with it.”
Brighten burst out laughing before she said, “Fuck, yes!”
“I don’t know who you think you are, but this is none of your business.”
“I don’t know who the fuck you are, but I know that you’re high and probably not firing on all cylinders right now, so I’ll say it again. If you touch him, I will hurt you. Are we clear?”
“Crow, you told me once that you’d do whatever you needed to do to protect my child,” Rebecca whined.
“And that remains true, but I won’t do shit to protect you.”
Rebecca absentmindedly scratched her neck before she said, “I just need some time to get my shit together, and I can’t do that while Rev is with me.”
“I’ll take you back to rehab,” Crow told her. It shocked me when he added, “I’ll even pay for it.”
Brighten snatched my phone out of my hand and then held it in front of my face to unlock it before she started typing. I wondered why she didn’t use her own, but then I noticed it was on the table recording the conversation.
I had just threatened to kill someone, and it had been documented. Yay me!
“I wanna go. I really do, Crow,” Rebecca said, actually sounding sincere.
“Let’s go then.”
“I can’t. I’ve got Rev now.”
“I’ll take care of her while you get clean.”
“Okay, we’ll just stay here while I get some stuff in order first —”
“Not happening,” Crow interrupted. “Rev can stay here, but you cannot. You can go to rehab.”
In a sudden change of topic, Rebecca said, “I tried to call Raven but she didn’t answer.”
“Because Raven blocked you just like I did.”
“That was all a misunderstanding, Crow.”
I heard a noise come from Brighten’s direction. I heard it again and realized she was actually growling like an animal that was about to attack.
“Okay! Obviously, Crow doesn’t want you in his house, so let’s take this outside,” I suggested, hoping to put some space between Brighten and Rebecca.
Rebecca ignored me and said, “I need you to take care of Rev for me, Crow.”
“I told you I would.”
“I put your name on the birth certificate.”
Crow’s tone of voice didn’t even shift when he said, “Then that should make it easy for me to take care of her while you get clean.”
Rebecca glanced at the door behind Crow before she turned and looked toward the front door. “Let me go take care of . . . stuff, and then I’ll come back so you can take me, okay?”
“That sounds like a dream,” Brighten said sarcastically before she held my phone up and aimed it at Rebecca. “Now, tell the camera what you just said about Revna. Who do you want to take care of her while you’re gone?”
“Crow.” The look in Rebecca’s eyes was calculating when she added, “He’s her father.”
“And you believe that living with her father is best for Revna while you’re away?”
“Yes. Um, I need some money to, uh, take care of some things.”
“Are you saying that if Crow gives you money that you’ll let Revna stay here with him?” Brighten asked.
“Yes. Definitely. Um, five . . . no, ten thousand dollars.”
I was stunned at her declaration and looked over at Crow to see that he had a hand over his mouth.
I wasn’t sure if it was to mask his shock or to stop himself from saying something he would regret.
I reached over and ran my hand down his arm before I took his hand and squeezed it to give him some reassurance.
The front door flew open, and Rebecca turned to see two cops walking in.
I recognized one of the officers, but not the other.
I watched as Rebecca spun around and then pushed her way through us so she could bolt out the back door.
Crow put his arms around me when I stumbled, and as I turned to watch Rebecca run, I saw that there was another officer standing just outside the back door.
When Rebecca tried to juke past him, he caught her arm and luckily managed to dodge her fist when she took a swing at him.
“Tell me when it’s over,” Brighten said softly as she walked closer to us.
When Crow pulled her into his arms, Brighten closed her eyes and tucked her head into his chest as if she was trying to block out the sounds coming from the patio.
I realized she was crying when she said, “We’re watching someone throw away their entire world. ”
“Luckily, her world is safe with my brother right now, and as soon as we get this shit taken care of, we’ll take care of her.”
I looked up at Crow when I felt him staring down at me. In that second, after hearing his declaration, I knew that he was nothing like any man I’d ever known. I was a fool to try and deny how I felt about him any longer.
Crow Forrester was the best man I’d ever met or would ever meet, and I was crazy about him.
I had no inkling that I’d said that aloud until Crow smiled and said, “I love you too.”
◆◆◆
CROW
The door opened, but I didn’t bother lifting my head to see who’d come in. I was emotionally exhausted after all of the drama last night and couldn’t shut my brain off long enough to get any rest. Not that sleeping in this position would do anything good for my body anyway.
“How is she doing?”
When I heard my mom’s voice, I looked up and saw her, my dad, and my sister Raven.
“I’m so sorry, Crow,” Raven said as her eyes welled up.
I turned and found Darcy awake and watching me. I knew she had a million questions to ask me, and I had quite a story to tell her, but we hadn’t really had a chance to talk about anything.
I got up and hugged my sister as I said, “You didn’t do anything wrong, babe. This is actually the best thing that could have happened, right?”
“Maybe for her, but is it for you?”