Fireball (Cheap Thrills #1)(43)

As both of them started yelling at him, Larry begging him not to do it while Rita screamed different names at him, he spun and walked back toward us, squatting down behind Jose who was still sobbing and pulling her and Olivia back into his arms.

“DB,” Raoul called, getting Dave’s attention. “We gotta deal with this one,” he pointed at Rita.

It looked like he was going to say something else, but Dave held his hand up to stop him. “Got it. Just get it dealt with and make sure you find out everywhere they stayed and bring the team in to search the places. I want every bit of evidence we can get.”

Nodding, Raoul turned and bent to help her up at the same time as Logan did the same for Larry. As she got to her feet, Rita leaned to look around Raoul and screamed at Dave, “You can’t do this to me. I’m your sister!”

Everything around me shifted, and if I hadn’t been sitting on the floor, I’m pretty certain I would have fainted.

“Oh hell,” Logan groaned, yanking Larry toward the door quickly as Raoul tried to do the same with the screaming woman.

“Shit,” Ellis hissed under his breath, just moving his head out the way as Jose’s head snapped up to stare in shock at Dave.

Me? I looked at the man that I’d started to believe in. I’d hadn’t lived my life thinking all men were like my dad and Larry, I’d lived it believing that a select few were like them and that I’d be smart enough to spot them before I got too involved.

Apparently, I wasn’t as smart as I’d thought I was. This man had changed my world and had me starting to think the worst in it was over. I was wrong.

I’d begun to base my heart on a man just like the ones I’d sworn to never get involved with.

He didn’t look down at me once, keeping his eyes on the woman being dragged out of the house who was still screaming obscenities at him, threatening to tell his dad what he’d done. When looking at him started to hurt too much, I turned back to Jose who was now watching me with pity clear on her face.

“Jose,” Ellis muttered, leaning over her shoulder to try to get her attention. “Let’s take the baby to…”

“Get out,” she croaked, clearing her throat and repeating it louder. “Both of you get out of my house.”

“Jose, baby, listen,” he tried to reach her, but she didn’t want to be reached.

“I need time with my daughter and my sister, and she doesn’t need to be around him right now,” she nodded in Dave’s direction.

I didn’t know what his reaction was to it because I couldn’t bring myself to look up at him again, but I heard him move until he was standing right next to me. “Tabby, look at me, baby.”

Before tonight, I’d loved it when his voice sounded husky like it did right now. Then again, before tonight I’d thought he was a different man to how he’d turned out to be. Unable to find my voice, I just shook my head and made a move to stand up. I needed to get away from him to think about what had happened, to lick my wounds, and to plan how after only a couple of days with this man I’d come back to the woman I’d been before I’d met him. I didn’t think it was possible, he’d been something I’d never knew existed in the world for me.

But it was all a lie.

His hand closed gently around my arm to help me to my feet, but I shook him off. I didn’t want his help, I could do this by myself just like I’d done everything by myself.

“Tabby,” he repeated, and I saw him reach out to touch me again out of the corner of my eye.

Spinning to face him, I held my hand up. “No,” I said firmly, shaking my head. “I need you to go. This is about Jose and Olivia now, and I need to make sure they’re ok.”

“I get that, but Tab…”

“No,” I repeated. “You lied, I get that, but this is about Jose and Olivia. You’ll get your day to explain and likely lie some more, but not right now.”

He must have seen the determination on my face, because he eventually nodded and then rubbed his face with both hands. I could hear Ellis talking quietly to Jose, but my focus was on the emotions playing across Dave’s face when he lowered his hands again. I’d spent enough time around him to recognize them as sadness, guilt, anger and frustration before he turned and walked slowly toward the door.

“We’ll need your statement Jose,” he said over his shoulder, his voice sounding flat. “Can you come and give it after you get Olivia checked out?”

He continued walking after she agreed, but I didn’t see if he turned around again because I was reaching for my niece so that Jose could get up off the floor. Deciding to give them some space, I walked with her toward the kitchen to get a bottle out of the fridge for her, but stopped in my tracks when Ellis called my name.

Turning to face him, I saw him looking at me sadly. “She’s his stepsister, his dad married her mom in Vegas ten hours after he met her. Both her and Rita make Dave and his dad’s lives a living hell. But he wanted to tell you and was going to.”

I didn’t know what to say. Things like this took time to process, and right now I was still shaken by what had happened tonight, I was worried about how Jose and Olivia were going to heal from this, and I was numb over how big the lie had been.

Nodding, I continued walking and went about feeding my hungry niece before we bundled her into her car seat and took her to the ER to be checked over. During it, I tried not to remember the first time I’d been here and how Dave had come to check on me and what he’d done for Jose. I tried not to think about what had happened after it either. And after the doctor gave Olivia the all clear and took photos for the police, I took her home while Jose went and gave her statement, my attention fully on the screen of my phone making sure that no one was outside the house as Olivia slept peacefully beside me.