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He pads over to Jules, sniffing the air. Jules lowers her hand and he nuzzles against it.
“Such a good boy,” Jules whispers. “You’re the best boy, aren’t you, huh?”
Piper leans forward, resting her hands on her knees, staring at her mother. Her hair is tied up too, but it’s in a messy bun, strands spiraling here and there. It makes me want to smooth it back into place, but last time I did that her mom slammed the door on me.
“You need to explain who my dad is,” Piper says softly. “I met Uncle Elijah last night.”
“Oh, God,” Jules whispers.
“He tried to assault Pearce. If Pearce hadn’t taken the knife from him, who knows what could’ve happened? He looked ready to stab somebody, Mom. He was so…so angry.”
Jules groans and buries her face in her hands. “I always knew this day would come.”
Her words are muffled from within her palms.
“What day?”
Jules lets her hands drop. “The day I’d have to tell you the truth. Elijah promised never to speak to you. The sad, ugly truth is he wanted nothing to do with you, his own niece, because of what I did.”
“What did you do?”
Jules looks at me, smiling shakily, looking similar to her daughter for a second. “Haven’t you told her?”
I shake my head. “No, ma’am, not all of it. Just that I arrested you years ago.”
She sighs. “For drug dealing. Did you tell her that?”
I nod.
“But not the rest of it?”
“What’s the rest of it?” Piper demands. “Mom, please explain.”
Jules sits back, staring into space, as though gazing into the past.
“It’s like I told you, Piper. Your father was much older than I was. He lavished me with attention at the start, telling me he loved me, he’d protect me, and care for me. He made me feel so special. No man had ever spoken to me like that before, and especially not an older, handsome man like Patrick.
“But then, a few months into our so-called relationship, I finally realized what was going on. He didn’t care about me. He wanted to use me in his drug operation. Young women draw less attention to the police. I don’t know how…”
She pauses, sniffling. Piper rises wordlessly and drops down next to her, placing her hand on her back, moving it in small comforting circles.
“I don’t know how I let it happen,” Jules goes on, clearing her throat. “He told me it was to help his business. He tricked me into believing it was a part of our love. It’s all such a muddle now. He… I…”
“You were using drugs as well as selling them,” Piper says softly.
“Please don’t hate me.” Jules grips onto her daughter’s free hand. “He made it all seem so fun at the start. By the time I realized how horrible it was, being hooked on that filth, it was too late. I thought it was, at least. I thought I needed it.”
“I understand,” Piper says.
I almost smile at the sympathy in her voice. My woman can’t go a few minutes without reminding me of what an incredible mother she’s going to make.
“Elijah and Patrick ran a city-wide network together. I was only one of the women Patrick had recruited. It was his kink, getting younger women obsessed with him, hooking them on drugs, and then sending them as dealers throughout the city. And then one day…”
Jules looks up at me and I return her gaze steadily.
“When did you recognize me?”
“Not at the courtroom,” I tell her. “Only when I saw you wearing that bandana. It was what you were wearing when we raided Patrick’s compound.”
“Yes, it was.”
“Is that why you tried to warn me away?” Piper says.
Jules lets go of her daughter’s hand, reaches toward the coffee table for her glass of water, and then stops midway through the movements, her hand trembling. It’s like she’s too full of jittery energy.
“I didn’t want the truth to come out. I couldn’t believe it when we walked into the courtroom and there he was, the cop who’d put the cuffs on me so many years ago. I knew if you got close, he might tell you about my past.”
“You haven’t told her why Elijah and Patrick hate you, Jules,” I say. “I think you should. Piper deserves the whole story.”
“I testified against them,” Jules says. “It was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done, but I did it. I had to do it. I wasn’t going to serve their time. I wasn’t going to take their punishment. Patty hated me for it. He said he’d never talk to me again, and he didn’t, not even in the very end. Elijah ran and got put away after and got out a few years ago and he’s mostly left me alone. But every now and then he’ll swing by, acting tough. Maybe that’s when he saw you two together.”
