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Do you care?
Even if that made her a horrible human being, no.
Beck took in her suitcase in a glance. “Good. You’ve packed. Time to go.”
She nodded and stacked her lone box by the door, taking care with her mother’s old sewing machine. “I-I know. I’ll have my dad’s things and all our papers packed up in a few minutes.”
“You take care of your father’s belongings. I’ll get the papers,” Seth insisted.
Heavenly froze, then horror set in when she thought of the past due bills for the phones, Dad’s hospital bed, and her fall tuition sitting in the drawers. Beck and Seth had already glimpsed the worst of her problems, but the thought of them knowing about all those burdens too made her chest clench tight.
“I’ll get them.” She rushed across the room, swiping away at the hot teardrops still making their way down her face. “I need to grab my laptop for school.”
Seth stepped in her path. “We don’t have time to argue. Get your father’s shit together. I’ll get your computer and take care of the desk. Beck will get Abel up and out the door. We’ve got to go.”
In case Sanchez came for his money.
With shaking hands, she plucked up Dad’s clean pajamas and his one pair of slacks for doctor’s visits, doing her best to fold them into the lovely wicker picnic basket Seth had given her. “You’re right. I hate to ask, but would it be too much trouble for you to drop us off at the homeless shelter?”
Beck spun around on his heel and flashed her an incredulous stare. “Are you fucking kidding me?”
She shrank back. “I’m sorry. I’ll call a cab.”
Seth sent her an equally stupefied glare. “You’re fucking serious?”
“Yes!” Why were they making this so hard on her? “I can’t pay the rent anymore. I know you understand what happened here tonight. I already feel horrible enough that I’ve put my comfort over my father’s well-being.” Tears rushed to her eyes like acid again as she threw the rest of his clothes, his meds, and his lone pair of shoes in the basket. “Why are you trying to make me feel worse?”
“How much money do you have right now, little girl?” Beck snarled.
“Not enough, obviously.” She stomped to the kitchen and grabbed the food out of the pantry. She refused to leave behind the coffee cup and wine Seth had given her. They were some of the few happy reminders she had left. Sniffling, she returned to the main room. “Do you want it in exchange for taking us somewhere safe?”
“How. Much?”
Heavenly reared back. With her, Beck had always been kind, affable, patient, wry, intellectual, and sexy enough to make her shiver. She’d never heard the hard edge in his voice. She’d never seen his temper. If he wanted to humiliate her, he wouldn’t be the first person to try, but no way would she cower before him—or anyone.
She settled all the kitchen stuff in the basket, then lifted her chin. “Fifty-four dollars.”
“Total? To your name?” Seth looked somewhere between horrified and heartbroken. “Damn it, angel…”
“I don’t want your pity. And I’m not asking you for anything.”
“Oh, you don’t have to ask. Let me tell you exactly how this is going to unfold, little girl. We’re loading up your things and taking your dad to the hospital tonight so our neurological team can do a full evaluation in the morning. After we leave there, Seth and I are taking you to my condo. I’m going to fix you a massive fucking plate of food and watch you eat every bite. Then we’re going to tuck you into the huge, clean bed alone. And you’re going to sleep until the dark circles and worry disappear. Tomorrow, you’ll visit your father, shop for a whole new wardrobe with Raine, then explain how the fuck you got into this mess.” Beck leaned close, nostrils flaring. “All of that is nonnegotiable, and you will do it without a word of disobedience. Is that clear?”
“No.” When Beck’s eyes narrowed, she shook her head. “I-I can’t. I can’t ask for that much. I can’t pay you. I can’t miss work. You’re trying to help, and I appreciate it. But—”
“Don’t you dare say they aren’t my problems and that you’re not my responsibility.”
“Why not?” She tossed her hands in the air. “It’s true.”
“Bullshit,” Seth tossed in, grabbing papers from the drawers of the old desk in the corner. “We just made you our responsibility. And we don’t have time to argue. We’ve got a handful of minutes to get this shit in the car and leave before the police start asking questions.”
Heavenly almost dropped everything. “The police?”
Seth grabbed the basket and slid her laptop and their papers inside. “Angel, do you think all this blood on our clothes came from a simple busted nose?”
