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I make up my mind to send her to one of the acting schools she’d mentioned once this whole mess is over.
I didn’t go home straight away.
I drink a beer or two to calm the anger raging inside of me.
I wanted to rip that bastard’s face off. I wanted his blood on my hands. And yet, if I did that, I would have lost Tracy and Max forever.
Max’s face when he had seen his mother had crumpled and he had grabbed my hand. I had comforted him while Tracy had sworn that she had just fallen down. But the boy didn’t believe her, and it was only when she left the room when he looked at me. “Why didn’t you save her?”
I don’t know what sort of things Max has seen in his life that made him use this serious tone with me, sounding eerily like an adult’s.
I had grasped his tiny cold hands and vowed, “I’ll fix this, I swear.”
“You’ll find who did this?”
I had run my hands over his head. “I’m going to make them sorry for what they’ve done.”
The boy’s reaction had been to stare at me and then nod, as he clung to my neck, his frame trembling with upset.
Now, I stare at the apartment building, steeling myself to go inside.
Spending all these years with Caleb, he’s taught me a thing or two, the most important being to never get your hands dirty no matter how much you want to. I know he’ll approve of what I did but there is a hollowness inside of me and I wish I had gotten in a few more kicks.
I sigh. But this was the only way I can stay near Tracy and Max, both of them having become the center of my life.
My body feels like lead as I drag myself out of the elevator towards my apartment. I pass Tracy’s door and continue on, wanting to lose myself to the darkness of the nightmares that have become so familiar to me.
The sound of a click makes me look up.
Tracy steps into the hallway, bundled up in a fluffy robe. The very robe I had placed inside her wardrobe, right before they had moved in.
Something inside of me settled upon seeing her wear something I had given her, even if she didn’t know it.
“Where have you been?” Her tone is demanding, almost proprietary.
I stare at her, blankly. “Out.”
“Out where?”
“I had some things to do,” I murmur. “Did you need something?”
She opens her mouth and then presses her lips together.
I hate this uneasiness I’ve caused her, that’s tainting our friendship. After I took care of her when she was beaten up, I brought Max to her. Then I ordered the two all sorts of comfort food and rented them their favorite movie, so they could feel safe and secure… to just heal together.
I had wanted to be there as well, to sit with them, to watch over them, but I had gone back home, to my empty apartment that just felt cold. It was bad enough I’d already imposed my feelings on Tracy. I didn’t plan to rub it in her face now. And more importantly, I don’t want to hear her reject me to my face.
“I came by twice in the evening to invite you over for food but you weren’t home,” she mutters, wrapping her arms around herself.
I feel a little hesitant, refusing to allow any hope to infiltrate through my numb exterior. “I had some things to take care of. I-I got a catering job. A friend of mine is hosting a party and he asked me for recommendations. He has staff and everything. He just needs food. I gave him your number. He’ll contact you tomorrow to arrange for samples and—”
“Duke.” Tracy’s voice is quiet as she asks, “Where did you go tonight?”
I seal my mouth shut. There’s something in her voice, something heavy, and I want to retreat.
She takes a step towards me and then her eyes grow dark. “What’s that on your face?” The distance between us vanishes as if it was never there, as she reaches up and grabs my face, studying my eyes, and her voice is cold. “Who did that to you?” Her finger presses against the bottom of my eye.
I don’t wince, although I feel the slight pain. I’m too busy drinking in her face, those dark lashes, those stunning hazel eyes, those full lips, all within my reach but not mine. Never mine. “I got into an altercation,” I confess, my tone husky.
