Page 28 of Love At Peace

I laughed once, a sound of pure insanity and misery. Her taunt stopped me in my tracks though. “Nevaeh, I’ve never abandoned you. You’ve always known to come find me when you have nowhere to go, but that doesn’t mean I’m a dumbass you can manipulate forever. Grow up. And own up to your mistakes.”

“I don’t need to ‘grow up.’” She ran up to round me and face me, snarling like the angry person she was. “And I don’t need you. I don’t care if you walk away too.”

I shrugged, too spent and twisted with this mind fuckery.

“I’ve got David now.”

I narrowed my eyes, livid all over again at the mere mention of his name. Many details had to be filled in about him, but the little I knew and the majority of what I speculated didn’t paint a rosy picture.

“Yeah, sounds like you found a winner with him.”

“You don’t even know him.”

I nodded, looking down for a second so I wouldn’t shout. “Yeah. You got me there. I don’t know him. Do you?”

She smiled, but when she opened her mouth, I cut her off.

“Do you know who that asshole is? He made Heather leave. He made her so terrified of him that she locks down in panic at the mere sight of him.”

“Because she—”

“Do you really think you’re a decent judge of character to be able to tell if he’s a good one or not?”

She cranked her smile back up to full wattage. “I know I’m not wrong about him. He loves me. I love him.”

“And now you’ll just be one happy little family, huh?” I gestured at her stomach. “Is he acknowledging that he knocked you up?”

Her smile lost a little strength. “I haven’t had a chance to tell him yet, but he’ll be excited and happy.”

“Oh. You haven’t told him yet. Huh. That’s interesting. But hey, you love each other and all will be well. Even though you don’t have a job or any way to care for yourself, let alone another life. Even though you don’t have a place to stay, nor does your highly esteemed asshole of a boyfriend.” I flung my hand up to indicate the apartments. David vacated the one. And I still had no idea where Nevaeh stayed when she wasn’t with me. “I guess I’m holding you up, then, huh? Am I keeping you from reuniting with that creep?”

“He’s not a creep,” she protested. Of course, that would be the one thing she’d latch on to and worry about the most.

I rubbed my face again, tired of all the headaches. “How naïve can you be?” I asked.

Not long ago, I tossed that out to Heather. I’d accused her of being weak and naïve. Comparing how I used that description with Nevaeh and Heather, I realized how wrong I was to assume Heather was naïve. Or not strong enough. She had been wise and brave to leave David. Seeing my niece falling for that cunning man now was just proof of how little she was being smart about this. Nevaeh wasn’t rational, hooking up with a man who was too pushy and controlling to ever be a good guy. She wasn’t even thinking—or she wasn’t thinking with her head.

“You know nothing about him. He’s...he’s damn near twice your age. And you’re going to believe that he’ll be happy about knocking you up here, when the only reason he came to town was to stalk and terrorize his ex?”

She laughed, too high and trilling to be a real reaction. “Terrorize? How is he terrorizing her? You’re letting her paranoia and lies get to you, Roarke. Tell me when David has been terrorizing Heather. Tell me when he’s even talked to her.”

“I was there the last time that he did. I stood up to him when he showed up on her front step,” I replied coolly.

“Since then.” She crossed her arms and lifted her chin higher. “Since that day, when has David even cared to talk to her?”

He hadn’t, actually, to the best of my knowledge. “What about Eric?” I said. There had to be a connection to Heather’s cousin ending up unconscious at the foot of the stairs at her ex’s place.

“I have no clue, Roarke. Eric’s one of those quiet weirdos. Who knows why he goes anywhere that he does.” She shrugged. “That’s not a sign of David terrorizing your whiny neighbor. It’s not even a connection to why she can act like he’s wronging her by being here at all.”

I stared at her, trying to reconcile how utterly young and ignorant she sounded. Like all that mattered was that David showed a morsel of attention to her and she was hooked like a groupie, just like that. She’d never proven to be a good judge of character where boyfriends where involved, but this took the icing.

“You want to know why he hasn’t been ‘terrorizing’ Heather? Because he’s been with me. In love and busy with me.”

“For now, until he’s done with his agenda for Heather.”

She sneered. “What agenda? You can’t realize how naïve you sound about her. He doesn’t have an agenda with her.”

“And does he have any plans with you? Other than knocking you up?” I again gestured at her still-flat stomach. “You think he’s going to help you care for a baby and make sure you’re not raising in out on the streets? You think he’s going to accept this kid and provide for you both?”