Nate(44)

Calihan’s eyes flashed. She raised her chin up even higher.

I kept on. “I don’t know the exact history or the details. Nor do I give a shit about that.” I swept everyone with a look before finding my target. “What I do give a shit about is my kid. That’s why we’re here. I’m an outside observer, but observing, I can tell it’s a big deal that Quincey reached out and came here. You might have anger on your end concerning her, and I’m guessing that’s the reason you brought two more friends; to shit on this night for her, but girl, you’re not just shitting on only her anymore. I’m in the mix now and so’s Nova. If you’d like to salvage some of the night, your friends have to go. And if you can’t drop the chip on your shoulder for the night, you best be going with them until you can see beyond your own issues and to the one who’s really needing everyone to be together on this. Nova.” I waited for a beat because I’d thrown a lot at her. “You decide.”

And I waited again.

There was silence in the group.

I skimmed a look at Graham, who seemed surprised, but not in a bad way.

“Graham,” Calihan hissed.

Okay. That’s all I needed to know. She thought this was the moment she could call in her reinforcements, which meant she thought there was space and time here where I’d allow that to first be negotiated. No. There were no negotiations right now. Her shit came later. Nova was first.

I reached behind me and took Quincey’s hand. “We’re out.”

I began leading her to the front door.

The mom dropped something. It clattered to the floor, and she hurried in front of us, blocking us with her hands up and spread. “Wait. Wait. Please.”

Quincey had a tight grip on my hand.

I stopped, and she moved all the way up against me. I could feel her tension, and I could feel her chest rising up and down at a rapid rate. That was too rapid for my liking.

I locked eyes on the mom. At a glance, she seemed nice. She also seemed desperate. She tried looking at Quincey, who moved behind me, her head ducking down into the back of my neck.

She started shuddering.

Fuck.

There was so much pain here, and it all started with the fucker named Duke.

“Quincey, please stay. I’m sorry about Calihan. She didn’t realize how important—”

“Yes, she did.” I stopped her. I shifted my hand to lace my fingers with Quincey’s.

The mom jerked her gaze back to me, and she swallowed, taking a step back. Her hands lowered.

I tried to gentle my tone, but I was pissed. “I’m going to give you my assessment of everyone in this room, and you can tell me if I’m wrong or not, but I’ll be honest. I won’t care. You, you seem nice. You seem like you care, and you seem very happy that Quincey is here. And I think relieved, too. You also seem on edge and fearful because you know your other girl has some residual anger issues and came here to throw her little tantrum, maybe try to put Quincey in her place. You disagreed, but you’re scared to speak up for whatever reason. Your man. He seems nice, too. Loyal. Gentle. But quiet. He’s in the background letting things play out, and that’s probably how his father was, and his father’s father, and your man seems like he likes that role. He’s content with that role. Graham, I’m not going to assess him because I know him. I like him. I respect him. The girlfriend, she’s nice, but she’s nervous, too. She also knows the two friends shouldn’t be here, and she was nervous about my reaction. She was the first to clue in, knowing there’d be fireworks when I got up here. Probably the reason she downed more drinks than she might’ve normally drunk for a night like this. The two friends, I’m not going to assess them because they shouldn’t be here. And they know it, but they signed up to be pawns. Now, Calihan, that’s a different matter. Right now, I’m not liking her one fucking bit. She seems like a spoiled brat, and that word can easily be interchanged with another that rhymes with witch. And when I say that, you need to know I’m not judging her for being a brat. I’m not judging anyone here.” I looked at the sister. “These are facts on how I see the dynamics playing out, and I don’t care two fucks that you might have reason to be a brat. God knows that I’ve been a dick, an asshole, and all other forms of a male brat in my youth, but it’s not the time or place to handle that right now. Right now is about hopefully coming together so we can keep Dick Royas away from Nova. And if you’re going to be a brat, I don’t want you involved. Now, we’ll leave and let this family handle their shit. When it’s handled, give me a call.”

And with that, we left.





25





Quincey





I’d never seen anything like it. Ever.

Nate almost dragged me to his vehicle because I was so stunned. I couldn’t move.

I held onto him with two hands, but as soon as we were seated, a laugh began low in my belly. It wasn’t a happy laugh. It was a WTF laugh with a hint of hysteria and an edge of something unbalanced inside me.

He—I couldn’t. I just couldn’t.

Calihan showed up when Nate was downstairs, and I knew the night would end badly. She came in and breezed past me without a hello. Her two friends followed, both giving me nasty looks. It didn’t help that both were dancers, and I’d beaten them out for solos over and over again in the ballet company. There’d been years of that, so Calihan fully knew who she had picked to bring to this dinner.