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Jack waved a dismissive hand. “Get out of here.”
“I’ll be careful,” she said. She discarded the tea bag and returned to her mug, leaning down to inhale the steam drifting out of it. “I feel so bad for Pax.” She shuddered. “Staying at that house with that…psycho.”
“Woo-hoo!” Jack cheered, throwing his hands in the air. “Four for five! You suck, Atlas.”
Tanner tossed his controller aside and got up to join them in the kitchen, Jack soon following. “You don’t think he beats Paxton, do you?” Tanner wondered.
Darien’s brows flicked up. “A Slade? Beating one of their kids? Yeah, I fucking think that. And whatever he’s doing to Pax, you can guarantee he’s doing to Roman tenfold.”
“So what do we do about it?” Jack said. He walked to the counter and helped himself to a cookie.
Ivy scowled. “I just made those!”
“They’re for eating, aren’t they?” He bit into it with an overly sexual groan, eyes rolling into the back of his head.
“Sharing. You ever heard of sharing?”
“If I find out Don’s physically abusing either of them,” Darien said, “he’s dead.”
“He had a bruise by his eye,” Tanner said. “Did anyone else notice that?”
“He’s got a problem with bullies at school,” Darien explained.
Ivy gasped, her elbow knocking the mug and nearly spilling her tea. “Not my sweet little Pax!”
“He was being picked on in an alley when I found him today. Kids stealing his lunch money—that bullshit.”
“So,” Jack said, polishing off the cookie. “What are we gonna do about that?” He dusted the crumbs off his hands. As they pattered to the floor, Twitch crept out of his shadow to lap them up with his tongue.
“Do you think Donovan knows?” Tanner asked.
“Pax said he does,” Darien said. “Don thinks it builds character and he needs to toughen up.”
“Wait,” Jack said. “Are you saying Pax needs to toughen up, or is Donovan saying that?”
“Donovan, you idiot.”
Tanner cut in. “Wouldn’t be a bad idea to teach him how to defend himself, though.” Darien had a feeling Roman had already taught him a few things, but learning how to throw a punch meant nothing if you couldn’t follow through when it came down to it.
“What about Roman?” Ivy asked, taking a sip of tea. “Do you think he knows?”
“Paxton doesn’t want him to.”
The kitchen fell silent as they mulled it over.
“Well, we’ve got two choices,” Ivy said. “Intervene, or mind our own business.”
“We teach Pax how to deal with the bullies on his own,” Darien decided. “I’ll take care of his dad.”
Darien had just announced that he was going to bed and was halfway to the staircase by the front door when Atlas caught up to him.
“Hey, Darien?” Tanner called quietly.
Darien turned.
Tanner slid his hands into his pockets. “Can I talk to you for a minute?”
“Sure.” They faced each other in the dark foyer. Darien waited for Tanner to speak, but he seemed unable to find words. “Tanner, if this is about what happened at the stronghold—”
