Chapter ten
Cyrus
I’ll never grow tired of kissing her, holding her in my arms, being with her. We talked long into the night. She told me about her mom, what she thinks happened to her that night, and about how those assholes at school treat her.
Wesley Johnson. I’m going to kill the fucker and lucky for me, he’s eighteen. I wonder if Rico knows about him? Which is another thing. He’s got a whole lot of explaining to fucking do. How could he let her work at the club? Live like this?
“How long has she been asleep?” a deep voice whispers from the door, causing me to jump up. My fists come in front of me as I try to make out the figure standing in the dim light of the hallway.
“What the hell, Rico! Why are you creeping around?” I whisper-shout, glancing to the bed to make sure Sierra is still asleep. She’s still trying to heal from her beating and the hell she went through yesterday. My girl needs all the rest she can get.
I cover her up, then head Rico’s way. “Let’s talk in the living room.” He turns and heads down the hallway. Stepping out behind him, I pull the door shut.
I walk into the living room and he’s standing there, staring at me. I can’t hold back any longer. “What the fuck, Rico? Stalk much? What if we’re doing something?” I growl, trying to keep my voice down.
“I’d watch your tone, boy,” he growls. “And what the fuck would you be doing with her? I’m trusting you, but if you think you can come and take advantage of my niece, you can think again.”
How dare he! As if I would ever hurt her.
“Take advantage of her? I fucking love her, Rico. Are you that blind? Actually, yeah, maybe you are. Why else would you let her work in your damn club knowing she’s your niece? How could you let her show her body to all those men every single night?” The more I talk, the angrier I get.
“Do you not think I hate myself for it? But I’d rather have her work in my club, where I can keep her safe versus some dump where someone could take advantage of her.” He runs his fingers through his hair as he drops down on the couch.
“Yeah, well, you did a shit job of it.” I move over, standing in front of him. I widen my stance, crossing my arms over my chest, and glare daggers at him. What happened to her was while her mother was still alive, and I know neither of them is responsible for it, but I’m fucking pissed.
Rico’s head pops up. “What are you talking about?”
“Before I tell you, I want to know why you never questioned her needing to work there?”
“I knew her aunt wasn’t staying here, and she needed money. Sierra wouldn’t just take the money from someone she didn’t know, and she’d question some anonymous person giving her money. Does that answer your fucking question?”
As much as I hate to admit Rico’s right, Sierra wouldn’t just take a handout from someone. She’s too independent. Instead of asking for help when her aunt abandoned her, she figured it out herself.
“I’ll take your silence as a yes. Now tell me why you think I did a shit job. I screwed up with Sarah. Her beating up Sierra wasn’t something I foresaw happening.”
“Did you know she’s bullied every day at school?”
He shakes his head. I can’t really be mad at him for that, I didn’t know either. At least in my case, I didn’t even know she was in high school like he did. Still, Sierra did a good job of hiding things from everyone.
“Why? Who?”
“She doesn’t know why. But from what she told me tonight, the whole damn school is in on it. Hell, even some of the teachers. Seems some guy who used to be her best friend is the ringleader. But that’s not the worst part.”
“Can you just fucking tell me? You’re drawing this story out. Remind me to never have you be the person to recap something.” He sighs, and I don’t know if it’s at me or the fact he didn’t know everything going on in Sierra’s life.
“So that friend, the one who’s the ringleader of everything happening to her at school?
” Rico waves his hands, hurrying me to get to the point.
“Wesley, that’s his name. Well, she was at a party at his house.
Apparently, his dad would let them drink.
She said she only had two beers and then everything went foggy.
She doesn’t remember anything after that.
She woke up the next morning in Wesley’s car.
When she got home, there were bruises and blood on her thighs and she was in pain. ”
“Someone fucking roofied and raped my niece?!” he growls, swiping out at a vase that’s on the table, sending it to the floor where it shatters into pieces. I really hope that wasn’t something of her mother’s.
“I don’t know if I was raped. But I think I was,” a soft voice says from behind us.
“Fuck, Sierra. I’m sorry.” Rico rushes to her and wraps his arms around her, mumbling something into her ear. This big man that I’ve been scared of since I started at Tiger Tails breaks down in front of me.
I step into the kitchen to make us something to drink, wanting to give them a moment.
When I step back into the living room with three glasses of ice water strategically gripped within my hands, I clear my throat and they pull away from each other.
He helps Sierra over to the couch, and they both sit.
Rico angles his body toward her, as I hand each of them a glass.
We sit quietly for a moment—so much information has been shared tonight that we’re just trying to process it all.
“I need the names of everyone at this party.” Rico’s cold voice interrupts the silence.
“Why?” Sierra asks, tapping her finger on the glass.
“Because I’m going to find out who hurt you and make them pay. Then I’m going to that fucking school of yours and teach each of those pricks a damn lesson. You’re never going back there.”
“Yes, I am. The day after tomorrow. I need to get back to some semblance of normalcy, and I don’t want to give them any reason to doubt me.”
“Sierra,” Rico and I say in unison.
“No, I’m doing it. Besides, Mr. Stevenson is my guidance counselor and I can use our sessions to check on how Sam is doing until I can see her.” She tries to smile, but I can tell it’s forced. My girl is so brave.
“And what about the dicks bullying you?” Rico asks. .
“I’ve put up with it for so long, it’s second nature. I’ll be okay. Rico, I meant it when I told you I wanted to do those private dances and go back to work. Just promise me you won’t watch me dance, and I don’t want anyone to know we’re related.”
He doesn’t answer. I can tell he’s struggling to back down and know exactly how he feels.
But I also know Sierra isn’t going to back down, she won’t let anyone dictate her life.
We sit there in silence, sipping on our water.
When I look over at her, she’s fighting to keep her eyes open.
Sierra’s fucking exhausted, and I plan to make sure she rests.
“Sierra, let's get you back to bed. I have online classes tomorrow so we can sleep in, and I’ll even cook you breakfast. Then we can go upstairs, and you can see Mrs. Butler. I’m sure she’s worried about you and Sam.”
She nods, and we all stand. Rico grabs her and hugs her tightly, placing a kiss on the top of her head. “I’m so glad you finally know who I am. I’ve waited so long to hug my niece, tell you I love you, and how proud I am.”
“I want to say I love you back, but it’s new and weird. I’d like to get to know you as my uncle and build a relationship. Just don’t keep stuff from me anymore.” She gives him a smirk. My heart warms, knowing that for just a moment she had some of her spunk back.
“Oh, before I forget, the reason I came by is I went by that old foster home of yours and got your stuff. I wasn’t sure if you needed anything in it or not.” He picks up the bag that I didn’t even notice sitting on the coffee table.
“Thank you,” she whispers softly, taking it from his hands.
“I’ll see you tomorrow, and I’ll lock up when I leave.
” He goes to hug her again, but stops himself and gives an awkward wave instead before heading to the front door.
When he opens it, he takes one last look over his shoulder at us as he walks out.
A second later, we hear the click of the deadbolt.
“My phone is in the bag. I just need to put it on the charger so I can check on Sam in the morning. Hopefully, either Zander or Braxton will tell me.” Her face drops.
“I’ll plug it in for you. Go on back to bed, and I’ll be there in a minute.
” She nods, pulling the phone and charger out of the bag, handing them to me.
Sierra heads to the hallway, and I know I need to say more.
“I’m sure they’ll tell you. Anyone who would fight for you like they did hasn’t turned their backs on you. ”
“I hope not.” With those words, she walks out of sight.
I’m going to do my damndest to make sure she never looks that sad and defeated again.