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ALLIE
“It was so beautiful there, darling!” Mom cheered over a glass of red wine.
I nodded along happily as I scanned her arms and neck for any sort of bruise. For the past hour, she had been going on and on about all the things she and Harlan had done on their tropical getaway to a place that I couldn’t even pronounce. And for the past hour, I had been suppressing a scowl every time I looked at Harlan.
From the moment I had met that man, I had known something wasn’t right. Despite the amount of money he had, he always tried too hard to be the father figure in my life and would always somehow get Mom out of going to the cemetery with me. Last time, it had been with a trip to an island.
“So, Allie,” Harlan said.
I gulped, forced myself to look over at him, and gave him my best smile. “Yes?”
He sipped the rest of his drink and set it down on the table. “Did Jace bother you while your mother and I were gone? Any parties that I should know about or any disruptions? Anything?”
It was like he was fishing for a reason to punish Jace. He had gone almost three weeks without it. I bet that man was waiting for a moment to smack Jace upside the head for making fun of me.
My chest tightened. And I had been the cause of Jace getting hurt so many times. I’d told Mom about Jace being rude to me, and Mom had blabbed to Harlan, and Harlan had kicked Jace’s ass for it. I just … if I had known, I wouldn’t have done that. I would’ve kept it to myself.
“Sweetie?” Mom said.
I shook my head to get rid of those horrid thoughts, promised that I’d make it up to Jace one day, and smiled at Harlan. “No,” I said. “No parties. No girls. No disturbing me while I studied. It was peaceful these past few weeks.” I glanced over at Jace and smiled. “Really peaceful.”
Harlan sat back in his chair and called for the waiter. “I see.”
“Dad,” Jace said, watching the waiter pour his fourth scotch of the night.
“What, Jace?” Harlan asked, staring tensely at him.
I had never noticed it before now, but it almost looked like a damn warning in his hazy green eyes, like he was daring Jace to make a big deal out of him drinking four entire glasses of scotch.
Jace tensed beside me and sat up taller, looking down at his steak. “I’m glad you had a good time,” Jace said instead of scolding him like he usually did to get him angry.
Jace seemed to think things through a bit more now before he spoke with his father.
At least, I hoped.
Whether he was loving me or hating me, Jace had always been there for me these past few years. I didn’t want anything to happen to him because I didn’t know what I would do without him. He was the only person, besides Imani, who had been there through all the shitty things in my life.
After we finished dinner tensely, Harlan asked for dessert, and Mom stood up to use the restroom or probably to really make sure nothing was in her teeth because everything had to be perfect for Harlan.
“I need to use the restroom too.” I stood up and followed Mom to the restroom, knowing that it would be one of the only times I would get to talk to her alone.
Harlan was always around, almost too much. And … I needed to make sure she was okay.
When I made it to the restroom, I shut the main door behind us.
Mom looked at herself in the mirror and smiled at me as she fixed her lipstick. “How was your week, darling?”
I swallowed hard, not knowing what to say to her. She had changed so much. I barely knew her anymore. We never had girl chats like we used to when Dad was alive. I missed that old life and would take being poor again over not talking to Mom and being rich any day of the week.
“Good,” I said, shifting from foot to foot in front of the mirror. “I got new glasses.”
Mom looked over at me and smiled widely. “Oh, you did. They look good.”
I glanced down at the sink and watched the beads of water run down the white bowl and into the drain. I had to do it. I had to ask her if Harlan had hurt her in any way, but I couldn’t let her know that Jace knew about what had happened with his mother. She’d tell Harlan.
She placed her lipstick back into her purse and puckered her lips.
“I want to get an IUD,” I blurted out to keep her in the restroom.
