But maybe I need to.
To prove I’m no longer the broken girl who left L.A.
I bite my lip and glance back at the house. The woman always scared me. And her put-downs scarred my soul.Hey, Jas, how’s it going? I hear your mom was at the clubhouse again last night.But I’m not a kid anymore, and I’ve faced down meaner bitches than her in my career. I take a deep breath and stand. I came back to L.A. to put my past to rest.
And she sure as hell is a part of my past.
I pause at the kitchen door and watch Ty pull open the front door. “Hey, baby.” Angie does her usual flamboyant hug and kiss, but Ty doesn’t move out of her way, so she can’t stroll into the house. “I won’t keep you long. I see you have company.”
“Yeah.” Ty picks up the box at Angie’s feet and dumps it in the hall. “I’ll drop by the house later.”
“Sure. Well, you have a good time.” She smiles up at him, and even though I can’t see his face, I know he’s smiling back. They have such a great relationship. How could I have considered, even for a single second in the back yard, that there was a way for things to work out between Ty and me? Her brother tried to destroy me. I wouldn’t be able to keep that from Ty forever, and I won’t be the one who wrecks his family by telling him the whole truth.
Before I can talk myself out of it, I emerge from the kitchen and walk toward them. Angie stares at me like I’m an apparition, and for some reason that boosts my confidence.
“Hi, Angie.” My voice is cool. “It’s been a long time.”
For the first time since I’ve ever known her, she appears at a loss for words. Ty sighs heavily and comes to stand by my side, and my heart squeezes with bittersweet pain. He always stood by my side. But in the end, it’s not enough.
“Jas.” She recovers quickly and steps inside the hall. “I was sorry to hear about your mom.”
We both know she doesn’t mean a word. She despised my mom and never tried to hide her feelings from me. But now, I can play her game, too.
“Thank you.” At least my lie sounds more sincere.
“How long are you here for?” She has the gall to smile at me. It’s all for show, so Ty thinks she’s okay with me being here. She loves having the men’s approval, and they all think she’s so perfect.
I’ll never forget the time when I was twelve years old and she broke a stripper’s nose for stepping out of line. That’s the real Angie, but Ty will never see it.
“I’m flying home today.”
“Have a safe trip.”
Ty takes my hand, and Angie doesn’t miss a thing, although I doubt he noticed the way her lips thinned for a second before she recovered herself.
“Jas is an attorney now,” Ty says, apropos to nothing, but there’s a challenging undertone in his voice. Maybe he did notice his mom’s disapproval after all.
“An attorney?” There’s no mistaking Angie’s surprise at that disclosure. “Well, you sure did well for yourself after you left here, didn’t you?”
Nausea rolls through my stomach, and I instinctively tighten my grip on Ty’s fingers. She makes it sounds as though it was a carefully considered decision to go live with my dad, instead of the knee jerk reaction of a traumatized girl.If it wasn’t for you and your brother, I never would’ve left here.
I was wrong. I should’ve stayed in the yard and never confronted Angie Jenson. It won’t change anything.
She sweeps her gaze over me, the faintest hint of a smirk on her lips, and it’s obvious all she sees is the same shy girl from ten years ago. It shouldn’t matter. I don’t care what she thinks anymore, but instead of backing off, a cold, black anger grinds through me, smothering the nervous churn of my stomach, and I take a step toward her.
“Yes, I did very well after I left.” I hold her gaze, something I never managed to do in the past, and it’s clear I’ve unnerved her. “I guess that’s not what you expected from me.” For a second I almost leave it at that. But it’s not enough. Not yet. I give her a glacial smile. “You, or your brother.”
The anger drains, like a lanced abscess, and I take a deep breath.Viper.And finally, I let go of the last fragments of power he’s held over me for the past decade.
“You’d better go.” Ty’s voice is low, but there’s no mistaking the intent behind it. Angie slings me a glare of pure venom before turning her charm back on for her son.
“See you later, baby.” She kisses his cheek and stalks out of the house without a backward glance.
Ty tugs me close. “Give her time. She’ll come around.”
I squeeze my eyes shut, my cheek pressed against his shoulder as he cradles the back of my head. “It doesn’t matter.” My voice is hoarse, and it doesn’t help when he rubs his jaw over the top of my head. “I’ll never see her again.”
His sigh ripples through me, and God, it hurts.Please don’t go there…
