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med Eddie when she coming down off something strong, and a few times, she would tell me I looked so much like Eddie Jameson, she couldn’t stand to look at me.” She shrugged, as if remembering her mother and her fucked-up childhood was no big deal. But I could see that the past haunted her in those eyes that mirrored her father’s.
“Em.” Daddy covered her hand where it was clenched on the table between them. “You never told me you had a dad. I thought maybe your mom didn’t know who he was.”
“No, they were married. I found their marriage certificate after she died. I thought about looking for him a few times over the years, but…”
But she was afraid.
Scared he would take her away from the Demons.
Afraid he would be just like her mother.
Momma didn’t have to voice those fears for me to understand what she must have been thinking.
“Do you want to meet him now?” I asked slowly. “When your mom ran off with you, he looked everywhere for you. He even called the police, but no one would help find you. It was only when you went to live with Daddy and the other Demons that he knew you were okay because you were suddenly everywhere in entertainment news.”
“He didn’t want to take me away from them?” she asked, and her face was unreadable. I hated when she did that. Closed herself off so no one, not even Daddy, could tell what she was thinking.
“He said he did, but he saw how happy you were. Actually, he was afraid you would hate him if he tried to take you away from Uncle Jesse since he was your guardian. And he thought your mom had turned you against him. He—”
She lifted her hand, cutting me off before I could tell her more. “Mia, baby, do you mind if we table this conversation until later? I… It’s a lot to take in. Give me a little time to digest it all.”
“I’m sorry.” I rushed to apologize, blinking back a tide of tears. “I didn’t know how to tell you, and I know I’m handling this all wrong. But I couldn’t not tell you, Momma.”
She gave me a tiny smile. “I know, sweetheart. And I appreciate you being so forthcoming. I just need a little bit to wrap my head around this.”
Daddy cleared his throat. “Just give her a few days, Mia. We’re going to be here for a couple days anyway. If Nevaeh is coming here in the spring, we figured you two would like to share an apartment instead of having to deal with dorm life.”
Barrick tensed beside me, letting me know really quickly he didn’t like that idea at all. My parents didn’t know I was living with Barrick. Not the first time I’d been staying at his place, and not this time now that it was official.
“We have an extra room,” Braxton announced as he retook his seat. He must have been watching and waiting to rejoin us. “Wouldn’t you feel better, sir, if the girls lived with us? We could watch out for them, and the house is only a few blocks from campus.”
I gaped at him. Only the week before, he’d told me to convince Nevaeh not to enroll. Now he was doing a complete 180 and was suggesting she live under the same roof with him? Something was definitely going on with him, and I had no idea how to get it out of him.
Momma and Daddy shared a look that was an entire unspoken conversation. After a minute, Daddy nodded. “I’ll speak to Drake and Lana about it. I’m sure it wouldn’t be a problem. That is, if you two don’t mind having two teenage girls under the same roof with you?”
Barrick was already shaking his head. “I don’t mind at all. Actually, I would prefer it. Mia and her cousin would be safer with us than in an apartment or at the dorms.”
“Yeah, but Nev is a little…” Daddy pressed his lips together, searching for the right word to describe his niece. “She’s different.”
“I like her different,” Braxton told him, his jaw clenching. “I promise to watch over her and make sure she’s safe and happy.”
That seemed to soothe whatever fears my dad had, but Momma was watching Braxton closer all of a sudden. Lyla returned to the table, taking her seat and finally pulling Momma’s gaze from him.
Smiling, Momma gave in. “I’ll arrange it, then. After her whole New York debacle last weekend, I know Drake will rest a little easier knowing you boys will be around to keep Nevaeh out of trouble.”
“What debacle?” I asked.
“What happened? Is she okay?” Braxton demanded at the same time.
Momma held up her hands, trying to calm us both, but even from where I was sitting, I could feel how tense my friend was. “It’s fine. Nev had a little run-in at the event she went to with Cole last Saturday night. I’m not completely sure what happened, and Nev isn’t talking about it. Cole punched out some guy, though, and Neveah was crying when she called her mom. Lana called me, and I flew back to New York to take care of her, but by then, she was tight-lipped. She hasn’t talked much at all since then, actually.”
“Mia, give me your phone.” The desperation in Braxton’s voice had me shoving it into his hand.
Unsteadily, he got to his feet, already trying to unlock my phone. “Mia,” he growled, and I quickly unlocked it for him.
The waiter was just arriving with our food, and Braxton bumped into him as he limped quickly toward the door. Putting the phone to his ear with one hand, he thrust his other through his hair.
“What was that about?” Daddy asked, frowning after him.
