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“Jack,” she whispered, but I didn’t miss the catch in her voice.
“Where does it hurt, Nishia?”
When she didn’t answer, I lifted my gaze to lock with hers.Tears filled her eyes, making them glitter like diamonds, but not in the way I loved so much, like when she was happy.There was pain in their depths—pain, defeat…and anger.
“Talk to me, baby.I need to know what happened and where it hurts.”
“My mom is dead,” she announced, and I stiffened.Her eyes kept shooting back and forth over my face, but at my instant reaction, a single tear spilled down her cheek.“But you already knew that, didn’t you?”
Biting back a curse, I tightened my fingers around hers.“Who told you?”
“Does it matter?”She tried to pull away, but I refused to release my hold.Something deep in my gut told me if I let her go, even for a second, she wouldn’t let me touch her again.“You knew, and you didn’t tell me, Jack.She’s been dead for weeks now, and I had no idea.”
“She doesn’t deserve to be mourned.If it weren’t for her, you never would have had to go through any of this shit.”When she flinched, I groaned.“I didn’t tell you because I didn’t want you to hurt any more than you already were.You never even mention her, Nishia.I thought it was better for your mental health if I didn’t bring it up.”
“No matter what she did, she was still my mom.”She swallowed hard and lowered her lashes.“Maybe she doesn’t deserve the grief I feel right now, but I can’t stop it.She was all I had.”
“Not true,” I argued.She didn’t respond, and my heart started pounding with something I’d rarely felt my entire life.Fear.“You have an entire army of people who love you now, baby.Everyone within these walls adores you.My parents and cousins, they all accept you as part of the family.You aren’t alone now, little fairy.You haven’t been since you were given to me.”
“You should have told me.I had the right to know that the woman who gave birth to me was gone.”
I bowed my head over her hands.“I didn’t want to hurt you.”
“Finding out like this, realizing you kept something this important from me… That’s what hurts, Jack.”
“I’m sorry, baby.Hurting you wasn’t my intention.”I kissed the back of each of her hands.“I only wanted to protect you.”
She grew quiet for a long moment, but instead of relaxing, I only felt my anxiety spike.Something wasn’t right.She was too reserved.When I looked into her eyes, my Nishia was missing.“You thought you could protect me by hiding her body?Was that where you went when you said you had to take care of something?You knew my mom was dead, and you thought dumping her body would fucking protect me?”
“Tell me who has filled your head with this bullshit, Nishia,” I demanded when she only continued to stare down at me with cold blue eyes.
“Where did you go those two days?”
“Arizona,” I snapped, hating that she didn’t trust me.I’d kept her mother’s death from her, but I hadn’t dumped her body.Nova hadn’t either.She’d left it there and called the super, paying him off or scaring the shit out of him to keep his mouth shut.It didn’t matter which, but apparently he hadn’t stayed quiet.
If it had been me, I would have torched Faye Cohen’s corpse and delivered the ashes to Nishia in a bronze urn.
“But he said… Fuck, I should have known better… That sleazy sonofabitch….”
Each time she trailed off midsentence, my pulse spiked higher.“He, who?”
Her teeth sank into her bottom lip, and I cupped her face with my free hand, making sure she didn’t look away.“He, who, Nishia?”
“My dad,” she whispered.
“You know who your dad is?But he’s not even listed on your birth certificate.”
Nishia’s brows pulled together in confusion, and I sighed.“Yeah, okay.My IT person did a full background check on you, which led to Clint Morgan.But that was only because I needed to know who to protect you from.”
“So you’ve known everything about me from the moment I arrived.Has any of this been real, or were you trying to keep a close eye on me because of who I am?”It was my turn to frown.“He told me who your mom is.”
Shit.Mom and I had both decided not to risk hurting Nishia with what a piece of shit her biological father was or his family’s history with my mom.I doubted Morgan had told her the full story, and everyone was the villain in at least one person’s story.His version wouldn’t be the truth, but she wouldn’t know that, damn it.
As if she could see what I was thinking, she grimaced.“Every word out of Clint’s mouth has to be taken with a grain of salt, I know that more than anyone.But then he told me about Mom, and that you knew everything, that you were the one who dumped her body.I didn’t believe him at first, but then he texted me pictures.I couldn’t refute that he was telling the truth about her being dead.”
She shuddered violently, and I tightened my hand on both of hers, wanting to erase those images from her mind forever.Taking a breath, she shrugged.“I guess I was still in shock after seeing her…like that.And I couldn’t help wondering if what he said about you was true too.And… And… Ah fuck, it hurts so much, Jack!”
Dropping back onto the floor, I pulled her with me, cradling her in my lap just as the first sob left her.Kissing the top of her head, I rocked her against me.“I’ve got you, baby.Cry.Scream.Throw things.Get it all out.But I’m not letting you go.”
