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He let go of me immediately and I pulled away, my hands on my throat, coughing to get air.
My mother leaned against the wall, and I knew it must have taken almost all her strength to come down the stairs. While I tried to recover, Spencer muscled past me and took her into his arms, one arm under hers for support.
"Why were you two fighting? " she asked and started to slide down the wall. "Why can't the two of you get along?"
I frowned. Did she not realize that Spencer was choking me?
"Now look what you've done," Spencer growled at me. "You've upset your mother. Come, dear," he said to her, his voice all soft. "Let me help you back into bed. You must be hungry."
"Why were you two fighting?" she asked again as he led her back up the stairs.
"We weren't fighting, dear," Spencer said. "I was showing her some self-defense moves they teach all the new female recruits with the police department."
"Liar!" I said and went to her side. "Mom, let me take you to Aunt Diane's place, You should stay with her."
"Why would she want to do that?" Spencer said, frowning at me. "She's my wife. She stays with me."
"I'll just stay here," my mother said when Spencer got her to her bed, her voice so tired she sounded as if she was going to fall asleep while she was still speaking. She rolled onto her side and that was it.
"You're a monster," I said to Spencer when he left the bedroom. I followed him into the hallway. "I could charge you with assault.”
"Go ahead and try," he replied. "I've told the police about you. How you steal from your mother. How you take her money and never visit. Who do you think they're going to believe, you or me?"
"You bastard," I said, barely able to speak. I stormed out of the house, tears in my eyes, determined to talk to someone about my mother's safety.
I couldn't go to Graham. He was still learning how to walk again and use his left hand to do things, because his right arm was in a cast. He couldn’t talk well because his jaw was wired.
Would the cops really not believe me?
When I got to the car, James was waiting by the door.
"Are you all right?" he asked when he saw my tears.
"Let's go," I said.
He closed the door behind me and got inside, driving off. "Back to the warehouse?"
I nodded, not able to speak.
My life had fallen into pure shit.
When we arrived back at the safe house, I practically ran into the building, taking the freight elevator up, hoping that Hunter wasn't there so I didn't have to talk to him. When I got to the top floor, I entered the hallway and then tried the door. It opened and George was standing there, waiting for me.
"You all right, Celia?" he asked, his expression full of concern. He must have seen my face on the security cameras and knew I'd been crying.
"Oh, I'm fine, George, really," I said, wiping my eyes and cheeks. "Just my bastard of a stepfather is all. Nothing I haven't dealt with a hundred times before." I forced a smile and tried to walk past him, but he stopped me.
"Your neck," he said and pointed.
I felt my neck, which was sore and realized I must have a bruise there from Spencer's hands. "It's nothing," I said, not wanting a fuss to be made. "I'm going to have a bath."
"You sure?" George said. "Is big bruise. Did your stepfather do to you?"
I nodded. "We had a fight," I said, and went to the washroom, waving George off. "Like a thousand others. I'm fine."
I turned back to see George before I closed the door. He was frowning. "Really, George," I said, smiling once more even though I felt like crying. "I'm fine. Don't tell Hunter, whatever you do."
He shook his head like he thought I was being foolish, but I didn’t need any fuss made. I would call my Aunt Diane and tell her I wanted my mom to have a day nurse or something to watch over her. She was too doped up. I was afraid she'd overdose. But first, I wanted to soak in the bath and recover from my run-in with Spencer.
