Razed (Barnes Brothers #2)(63)
Nolan’s car was pulled up to the front door and as she watched the door swung open. Nolan came out, the muscles in his skinny arms bulging as he hefted a box into the back.
Zane pulled the car to a stop, his eyes following hers. “Problem?”
“Looks like Nolan is pulling out.”
“Is that a bad thing?”
“If he’s leaving the kids, yeah.” She rubbed the back of her neck and turned her head to look at him. “Their mom has a weird idea of parenting. Smacking them across the face is how you deal with them when they are hungry. Or not feeling good. Or just about anything.”
Zane didn’t say anything.
And when she climbed out, he was right behind her.
Her heart lurched up into her throat only to still when she saw the two girls snuggled into their car seats.
Nolan paused when he saw her, his young face far too old. Lines bracketed out from his mouth and a vicious, glorious bruise surrounded his eye.
“Keelie.” He nodded at her, ignoring Zane.
“Tired of trying to make it work with her, huh?”
His bark of laughter was razor-edged. “There’s no making it work with Tara. You and I both know that. I was a f*cking moron to think I could. A moron to think I could . . .” He stopped, clamping his mouth shut. “The cops came. She’d just slugged me one when they showed up. Was going to do it again and they restrained her.”
“How much had she had to drink?”
Nolan shook his head. “Who knows? I can’t do this anymore. Can’t let the girls see it. She tried to hit a cop. They arrested her—pretty sure she’s in violation of her parole, too.”
“Where are you going to go?” She wondered what he’d do, how he’d take it if she offered him some money.
He slammed the trunk door shut and then, slowly, he lifted his head. “I’m going home. Back to my mom’s. She . . .” He stopped, shaking his head. “I don’t know if she’ll want to help me, but she’ll do it for the girls. She won’t say no to kids.”
“Your mom. I didn’t know . . .”
He moved around the car. “We ain’t talked since I left home, five, six years ago. But she ain’t gonna close the door on the kids. I’ll tell her about Tara. I’m hoping she can find a way to help me get custody, too.”
“How can she do that?”
The look he gave her then was a bitter one. “My mom works for the DA’s office. She’s a lawyer. If anybody can keep Tara away from the girls, it’s my mom.”
*
She was still staring at Nolan’s disappearing car when Zane slid an arm around her waist. “You okay?”
“His mom is an attorney,” she muttered, shaking her head. “And he’s been living here, dealing with Tara. I don’t get it.”
“You’d probably have to ask him before you’d understand.”
“I don’t know if I’d understand even then.” She looked around, staring at the apartments, the busted-up cars. She had a reason for being here, although it wasn’t as simple as some people might think. Most people were here because they didn’t have anyplace else to go.
She was here because . . . well.
She didn’t feel like she fit in anyplace else. And this was anonymous. Nobody asked questions here. Nobody was likely to spend a lot of time trying to get to know her, ask questions, or make her feel like she was supposed to share some part of herself or get involved in the community.
She could be as alone as she needed to be.
She only had herself to worry about.
But Nolan had kids. He had other people to worry about. And both he and the kids deserved more. “I don’t get it,” she murmured.
“Keelie . . .”
Turning her head, she found Zane just a whisper away.
“Go inside.” Then he brushed his lips over hers. “Or come back to the loft with me. I don’t care. Just don’t stand there looking lost.”
If he’d used any other tone, maybe if it had been anybody but Zane, she would have sneered at him and forced those words down his throat.
Instead, she reached up and laid her hand on his cheek. “I enjoyed last night,” she murmured.
His breath was a soft kiss on her lips. “Did you? Enough to do it again?”
She licked her lips and his gaze dropped, lingering on her mouth.
She drew in a breath of air and then he groaned, closing the distance between them.
She brought up her other hand, fisting it in his shirt, feeling the warmth of his skin under it, the strength of his chest, the solid wall of muscle.
“Call me later?” she asked softly, laying a hand on his cheek.
“Damn straight.” He brushed his mouth across hers.
A moment later, she locked herself in her apartment. Two moments later, she was wishing she’d asked him to stay.
Chapter Twelve
“Now you realize you’re going to have this tattoo . . . forever. Even if you change your mind and decide to have it removed, there are likely going to be marks. You can get it covered up, but that can be costly.” Keelie smiled at the pretty, wide-eyed blonde across from her. Said blonde was curled up against her boyfriend. The boyfriend could double as a brick wall in the dead of night and some people would never know the difference.