Chapter one
Cyrus
Fifteen minutes earlier
Ihated leaving Sierra behind to deal with the CPS worker alone. This is the worst thing that could have happened. She is so close to her eighteenth birthday. Granted, she would’ve still had a hard road to get custody of Sam, but at least she would be a legal adult.
“Let’s take this outside,” the officer orders, gesturing for us to head to the stairs. Guess he didn’t want to risk us going at it again in the elevator.
I take one final look back at her battered and bruised face, her eyes begging me not to leave.
The apartment door closes and I have no way of knowing what fate awaits Sierra.
How did they even find out? Who made the complaint?
I need to tell Rico what’s happened. He’s a different person with her, compared to how he is with the other girls at the club.
That’s something I need to look into. Is he waiting until she’s of age?
The three idiots in the front hit the landing first and turn around to glare at me.
“Okay, so Ms. Jones said none of you were to blame for the state she is in, but I need to know why you all are here?” The officer takes a moment to look each of us in the eyes.
“We don’t know why he’s here, but we’re her classmates. Our father is the guidance counselor at the school and knows we’re friends with her. He asked us to bring her homework over,” one of the twins says, and from the red mark on his jaw, I know it isn’t the one who was calling me a pimp.
“I’m just a friend and I was here visiting.” He doesn’t need to know I was here helping to take care of her. That would just drum up more questions that I don’t want to answer, at least not without talking to Sierra first.
“And what was the altercation about?” the officer asks as he scribbles on his notepad.
“Honestly, sir, I have no clue. There was a knock on the door. Sierra was in the restroom so I answered it, and when she walked in the room, they attacked me.” Fuck, it’s the truth. I’m just being kind and leaving out the slurs they threw at me.
“We saw how she looked and assumed he hurt her,” the dark-haired one says.
I hold my hands up in the air. “It wasn’t me. Am I being accused?”
“No, not yet. We will be investigating this incident.”
“You’re just going to let him get away with it? We showed up and he was here and she looked like that,” the carbon copy who threw a punch asks, pointing back to Sierra’s apartment.
“I’m not going to let anyone get away with anything.” He turns to me. “Sir, I need your name and a contact number, then I need you to leave. We will be in touch. The three of you wait over there.”
The boys comply, and I quickly give him the information before heading down the stairs. When I look over my shoulder, two of the three amigos are glaring at me.
I have no intention of leaving. I need to know what happens to Sierra and Sam. Stepping outside onto the sidewalk, I look around before heading to my car. Once the cops and the people from CPS leave, I’m running right back up those stairs to the woman who owns my heart.
I’m parked on the curb, and the police cruiser is two cars in front of me. I open my door and slide down behind the steering wheel, trying my damndest to not look suspicious.
A few minutes go by before I see the three classmates walk out.
They’re looking around, so I duck down a little more.
It looks like they’re arguing. The dark-haired one’s hands are waving frantically in the air as he talks, while one of the double trouble twins shakes his head and walks away.
He crosses the street and opens the door to a jeep, climbing into the driver’s seat.
He doesn’t wait long before he lays on the horn, and the other two jump in. The car starts up and they pull off.
I can’t, though. I have to see Sierra, to make sure she’s okay.
The more minutes that tick by, the more anxious I get. Sweat beads across my forehead and I have to wipe the palms of my hands from where I’ve gripped the steering wheel so tightly. Fuck, what’s taking so long?
I’m not sure how much more time passes until I finally see the door to her building open and I sit upright. What I see next grips my heart tightly. No!
The officer exits, followed by Sierra. She walks slowly, with her head down, and a bag clutched in her hand.
She has her arms wrapped tightly around Sam, who is also carrying one.
They are walking so close to each other, it’s like their bodies are trying to meld together.
The look on Sam’s face tells me everything.
I can only imagine the heartbreak Sierra is feeling.
The social worker exits behind them. The officer guides them to the car in front of me with the CPS decal on it, and Sierra raises her head.
Her glassed-over eyes lock with mine a second before she disappears inside the car.
The pain shining back at me feels like a gut punch. A soul-crushing sadness hits me like a tidal wave and sends anger coursing through my body. I will do whatever I have to do to save her and find out who did this.
My gaze never wavers, following the car long after it pulls off until it completely disappears.
I grab my phone from the passenger seat. I know I’ve got to let Rico know. For whatever reason, he cares for her and if he can help, then I’m going to do whatever I can.
The phone rings twice before he picks up.
“Is everything okay?” His deep voice rumbles through the speaker.
“No, she’s not—” I don’t get a chance to finish.
“What the fuck’s wrong? Is her—” he starts, but I cut him off.
“CPS showed up. Someone turned them in and they were just taken away.”
“Where to?” he yells, fear mixed with unbridled anger lacing each word.
“I don’t know, Rico. She looked so frail, so upset.
Shit, she hasn’t even recovered from her injuries.
What’s going to happen to her? To Sam?” I stop when my voice cracks and clear my throat.
I can’t let myself break down. Not now. Rubbing my hand down my face, I take a deep breath. Fuck, I’m a mess.
“Go home. I’ll call you once I find something out,” he tells me, then the line goes dead. I place my head down on the steering wheel and sigh.
My world is crumbling around me. I finally confessed my feelings to the woman I’ve wanted for so long, only to find out she’s not exactly who I thought. But I don't care. I want her, and I have no problem waiting a couple of months until she’s eighteen. I just need to find out how she feels.
Taking another deep breath, I turn the keys in the ignition and start my car, pulling away from the building that just crushed me metaphorically.
God, I hope Rico can fix this.