Nothing Dick did or said sat right with me. The man was the closest thing to a super villain that I’d ever seen, and my family Chain came in contact with alotof bad people.
“She comes in the office, pissed as all hell–”
“About Lauren?” I asked.
Wyatt sighed deeply, before speaking quietly, hiding his eyes behind his hand. “My father was telling me to connect with Skye by any means necessary. I was shocked…I just…sat there. I didn’t know what to say. I was already thrown off over Lauren. Willow stormed in, and then dad looks at her, and…he says,‘go change, you look like your mother’.”
I suddenly felt as if I’d been punched in the gut.
Holy. Fuck.
“She’s not safe there,” I said urgently. “Wyatt, we have to do something.”
“I know,” Wyatt ground out. “But what? Lauren won’t leave him, Willow won’t leave her. Willow is sofuckingmad at me.”
“I get it,” I said. And I did. My mother all but hated my father, butthere was no getting rid of him. Our biology was fucked up in that way.
Wyatt scrubbed a hand down his face. “I can’t believe you didn’t punch me for not doing anything about it.”
“I still can,” I offered. “But seriously, Wyatt. This is…”
“I know,” Wyatt said quietly. “Willow’s never been mistreated by our father. Not in the way I was.”
“According to the story you just told, that could change. Very quickly, if it hasn’t already.”
Wyatt winced. “Iknow.”
“And she still doesn’t want my help?” I asked, just to confirm.
I’d never actually personally spoken to Willow about her mother. She was always in such a happy mood, I found myself trying to avoid ruining it. Willow already thought I disliked her, probably because she remembered me as her older brother’s asshole friend when we were teenagers, but Ididlike her. She was important to me, and not just because she was important to Skye or Wyatt. She was a sort of younger sister figure for me, too.
“She doesn’t,” Wyatt said softly.
I opened my mouth to ask the next question, and Wyatt pulled an old, leather-bound journal from his desk drawer.
All thoughts about Willow and Lauren and Dick fled my mind as I jumped up and down like a kid begging for candy, catching the book as Wyatt tossed it to me.
I plopped down on the couch, making the wooden frame groan, and Wyatt’s jaw ticked in irritation. I stared down at the gem in my hands, vibrating with excitement.
Richard Craig’s court manifest.
I kicked my feet before ripping it open and speed reading through each page.
Wyatt kicked his feet up on his desk, reclining slightly in his creaky leather chair.
“Does he know?” I asked as my eyes ran over a line about Regina Wilson, reading‘client appears lucid, understands what she did was wrong, insists she’d do it again’.
“Of course not,” Wyatt scoffed. “He’d have fucking killed me.”
“That’s never happening, Wy.” I hummed as I turned another page, reading another line.
‘Client will not give reasoning for attack, claims she had no choice (sure).’
I grinned, reading on.
Richard detailed everything about Regina, even down to her choices in outfit for court that he made her change several times. He described her as short-tempered, easily excitable, and hard to calm down.
I snorted. That…weirdly sounded like me, minus the short temper part.
