Show Me the Way (Fight for Me #1)(84)

Fuck.

Mother. Fuck.

“Doesn’t mean anything,” I grated.

She took a pleading step forward. “It means everything. I—”

Hopeless, she looked to the house that was supposed to be our home. The one she’d set afire. Burned it straight into the ground, leaving that bullshit note about how it was all my fault before she just fucking took off and left us behind.

Right then, I might as well have been back there. A prisoner to that day. Missy lying dead at my feet and my wife driving away.

Leaving me.

My attention moved across the street, to the impenetrable silence that hovered like stone around Rynna’s house.

Don’t leave me.

A sob erupted in the air, stealing my focus, my purpose. I jerked my head back to Janel, who pressed her hands over her heart. Like she was trying to keep it inside. “You’re with her? With Rynna?”

“How do you know her?” I demanded.

Apparently, last night I’d ripped off the lid to Pandora’s box. Every demon in my past flying out. Guess it only seemed fitting one stood on my front porch. Seeking a way in when I’d been so diligent at keeping everything out.

Rynna.

Fucking Rynna.

Little Thief.

The second she’d stepped into my life, she’d turned everything upside down.

A frown crossed Janel’s brow, hesitation thick, before she quietly spoke, “I didn’t know her well, but I knew her well enough to know she’s Corinne Dayne’s granddaughter. We didn’t run in the same circle, though. It just . . . caught me off guard that she’s here. I’m . . . I know I don’t have any right to be jealous, but I can’t help it. I thought when I came back we . . .” She trailed off, her intentions hanging in the air like a thick shroud of dread.

“Well, you thought wrong. You left us. You can’t come back and expect anything to be waiting for you.”

“You know I couldn’t stay any longer. I was dying inside. You—”

“Then what are you doing here?” My biting words cut her off.

“I . . . I got help. A counselor who helped me see we just needed to work through our troubles. Courage to fight for it. For my family.”

Fight for us?

Mocking laughter rocked from my lungs. “You’re here to fight for us? To win me back?”

“Yes.” She said it so simply. So easily. Like I should just let go of three years of hurt. Like I should just let go of Rynna.

“It’s a little late for that.”

“It’s never too late.” She reached out. Both hands circled around my wrist. “At least I need to see Frankie Leigh. I can’t go on without her, Rex. I have never been the same since I walked away from my child. Never have known a torture like the one I’ve been livin’. Please, I need to try to make it up to her. She needs to know her momma.”

Agony crawled over my body.

A devouring beast.

Fangs sinking all the way to bone.

How long did I pray for that? Beg and plead and cry out to the emptiness of the night? Nothing but a beggar on his knees, willing to give up anything for his daughter’s life to be whole. Fulfilled. For her to never feel an ounce of the betrayal that I’d worn around like a second skin.

And there was her mom. Without my permission, my gaze moved back to the open door. To my kid. I’d always done what was best for her. Problem was, right then I had no clue what that was. What was right.

“Not sure I can give you that kind of chance, Janel.”

“She’s my daughter.”

“Who you abandoned,” I bit out, voice muted so Frankie couldn’t hear.

A sob tore from her. A loud, guttural moan. “I’m so sorry,” she whimpered. “So sorry. I’ll do anything to make it up to her. Anything. Please give me a chance. I just need to see my daughter.”





33





Rynna





I stumbled into my house, drawing in big, sucking breaths. Trying to keep it together when I already knew that was impossible.

Janel.

Janel.

Rex.

Frankie.

Oh God.

Agony sliced through my being, cutting me in two. Clutching Milo to my chest, I tipped my head back toward the ceiling. Tears slicked down my face and dripped into my hair.

Why?

Why did life have to be so cruel? Fate twisted. Warped and perverted.

I set Milo on his feet and frantically dug in my bag to find my phone. Uncontrollably, my hands shook when I tried to find Macy’s contact. Finally, I managed to push send. It rang twice before her groggy voice came onto the line. “Hello?”

It was three hours earlier there. No doubt, I’d pulled her from sleep. But I needed her. Had no one else to turn to. Sorrow wrenched from me on panted, shattered cries. No words but the tumble of frenzied, horrified confusion that gripped my mind.

“Ryn . . . is that you?” I could picture her shaking herself out of the haze of sleep. Panic surged into her voice. “Ryn, what’s wrong? Tell me what happened.”

“She’s here.” It was a whimper.

“Who?” she demanded before she caught on. Silence eclipsed the flood of worry that had been rolling from her mouth. “Shit,” she muttered. “Where’d you run into her?”