Page 23 of Ruin

Her face softens. “I know. And I’d love to go out for dinner with my girls. Where are you thinking?”

“DiMaggio’s?” I suggest.

“Italian’s always good.” She smiles.

“Oh, and I need to ask for a favor. Would you mind watching Gigi for a few hours on Wednesday night?”

“Sure. No problem. You seeing Rich?”

“Mmhmm.” My cheeks redden a little.

Aunt Elle knows about my arrangement with Rich. She doesn’t pass judgment. Probably because she saw what I went through with Zeus. That, and she’s never had a serious relationship in her life.

“Married to the job,” she always tells me.

“I won’t go out until she’s in bed.”

“Cam, you should go out. And not just to Rich’s for a booty call.”

“Please never say that again,” I groan, slapping a hand to my face.

She laughs. “Go out and enjoy yourself. Get Rich to take you out for dinner or drinks.”

Okay, so I take it back. She never used to interfere. I’m wondering if me seeing Zeus last night has set this off.

“We don’t do that,” I tell her. “And I go out enough.”

She turns, facing me, and rests her hip against the counter. “You should do that. Rich likes you. A lot. I can tell. He’s always asking me about you. He’s a good guy, Cam. He’d take care of you.”

“You mean, he’s not Zeus.”

“No, he isn’t. You need to start living your life, Cam.”

“I am living it.” I defensively fold my arms.

“Your life centers around Gigi. And that’s great. It should. You’re an amazing mother. But you don’t do anything for yourself. You don’t go out. You don’t date. And I know it’s because of him and what he did.”

“You haven’t committed to a man,” I cut her off. “You never had a man in your life while I was growing up. And you still don’t now.”

She sighs and runs a hand through her long, dark hair. “But that’s not because of what someone did to me. The moment I became a cop, I married my job. And, when you came to me…you needed me. The life you had with your mom…God, I loved my sister, Cam. And I don’t want to speak ill of your mom, but she didn’t do right by you. She was an addict. She moved you around all the time. Let different men in and out of her life. I tried to help her, get her clean, but she wouldn’t listen. She fought me at every turn. She was too far gone for me to help her. But you weren’t. And, if I’m being honest here, I was going to go after custody of you anyway if she hadn’t died.”

I suck in a breath. “You never told me that.”

She lifts a shoulder. “I loved you. And I wanted you safe. You needed security and stability, Cam. I’m married to the badge. I had room for only one person in my life back then, and it was you.”

I can feel myself getting weepy. I’m not usually this emotional, but seeing Zeus last night has really knocked me off course.

Aunt Elle walks over, standing before me, and takes hold of my long hair, smoothing it over my shoulders. “I just want you to have something for yourself,” she says.

“I dance,” I say softly.

“At the club, which is work. I just want you to go out this once, let your hair down, and have fun.”

“Okay,” I concede. “I’ll go out for drinks with Rich. Happy?”

She smiles winningly. “Yep.”

I roll my eyes right as the doorbell rings. “I’ll get it,” I tell her.