Page 75 of That Pucking New Girl

“What does this girl think she’s about?” Emil grunts. That’s when I realize it's his hand on my back.

My foster family and I basically chase Roxy out of the house, standing at the door as we watch her run out to her car.

“Excuse me,” Ignacio says pleasantly, squeezing past me.

My jaw drops as I watch him pump a shotgun up and down before he stands in front of us, staring at Roxy. Her tires squeal as she pulls away, her face full of fear as she drives. It occurred to me that while my father hunted my mother down with a similar weapon, Ignacio stands in protection of his family.

“Are you okay?” Emil asks gently.

“I’m not a fan of guns,” I rasp.

“That’s understandable. Sometimes, it’s the best way to light a fire under someone’s ass,” he says. “That girl was far too interested in the house.”

“Yeah she was,” Liliana says. “Theo⁠—”

“I have a photo of her plates, I’ll run them,” Theo says. “Noor, your hair…”

“It’ll grow back,” I grumble. Rachelle closes the door on Ignacio as he stalks to the gate to make sure Roxy leaves. “It’s a shame I can’t wear a hat to school. I’ll never be able to style this on my own.”

“It’s not that bad,” Rachelle says, locking the door as we migrate toward the living room.

I glance back at the front door, and Rachelle shakes her head.

“Nacio will come through the garage,” she says. “It’ll give him time to put his weapon in the safe. Roxy needs to think twice if she means us harm. I’m not sure what her snarky comments were about.”

“She called Emil ‘grandpa’,” I say with a wince.

“Ha!” Emil snorts. “There are only three people who are allowed to call me that, and you’ll be one of them when you decide to join the family. Everyone else can fuck off.”

I sniff back tears because it’s starting to feel like a real possibility. They’re all in, I just need to accept it.

Liliana squeezes my hand as we sit on the couches.

“So guns are a no go?” she asks gently.

“You didn’t see my file?” I ask confused.

“Jared and I did, but we didn’t go past the medical history and how many foster families you’d been to,” Rachelle explains.

“Oh,” I say, chewing on my bottom lip. “My dad killed my mother with a shotgun when I was nine. It was a murder-suicide and I watched it happen. He killed my mother to get me to come out of hiding. Except, I got stuck behind the desk and I couldn’t get out.”

There’s complete silence as they stare at me, and I realize Ignacio also heard me. He no longer has the gun in his possession and there’s a very intense expression on his face.

“My mom managed to call emergency services before my dad killed her,” I explain. “I don’t think they would have found me if I hadn’t been screaming when they broke down the door.”

“It doesn’t sound like your father was well,” Rachelle says.

“They were arguing about me,” I sigh. “The medical bills wouldn’t stop coming, and the research to help my POTS was shit, which is why they diagnosed me with asthma instead. An inhaler obviously didn’t help, and after they died, the doctors put me on a beta blocker. They thought it would help the issues with my heart, but it got worse because it’s not actually a heart condition.”

“Fucking idiots,” Jared growls.

“My dad drank a lot during the year I got really sick, and he started hurting me right after he lost his job,” I explain. “It was honestly just a matter of time before he snapped. I didn’t know he even had the gun because he was so against them. It took my mom and I completely by surprise.”

“Unfortunately, it’s not hard to buy a firearm illegally,” Emil grumbles. “Especially in California.”

“So that’s my sad story,” I shrug.

“Don’t do that,” Liliana says. “You’re a survivor. It’s why Alastair, Ciaran, and Draven have their work cut out for them. They think they’re the worst thing you’ll ever survive.”