“Are we allowed to bring Bernadette?” Ginny asked in a small voice.
I patted her back. “Yeah, Buggy, we are. But you need to make sure you take her out to pee and poop, all right?”
She saluted me, her lips stretched in a wide grin. “I promise!”
The key Pandora had given me wasn’t electronic and I had to use it in a keyhole, which wasn’t entirely weird for a cheap motel, but I wasn’t a fan. Once I had Bernadette and Ginny inside, I made sure the lock was turned before I helped Ginny bathe. Bernadette joined us, sitting at my side as my supervisor.
Finally, I put Ginny into the only bed, which luckily happened to be queen size. Of course, the pit bull joined her because Bernadette never left her alone. I lay beside her, watching as her lashes fluttered in exhaustion.
“Bubba?” Ginny yawned again. “Is Mommy in heaven?”
Heaven. Fucked if I knew. We hadn’t grown up religious and Mom had hated the idea of Ginny and me being taught anything remotely Biblical at school. I’d never cared for thoughts about the afterlife, but I knew Ginny was interested in the idea of God.
I brushed my palm over her head, smoothing her curls back, and smiled gently. “I don’t know. No one knows where someone goes once they die. But I guess we can hope they’re in a better place. Maybe Mom’s with my dad and they’re looking down on us right now, making sure we’re okay. And we will be. Okay, that is.”
Her grin was worth the words ofwisdom, if that’s what they were. Then, the tears came and her bottom lip wobbled. “I miss her.”
I cradled her close to my chest and let her cry into my shirt while stroking her back. If I could take away her pain, I would in a second.
The thought made me pause. Was that how Zayn felt about me? By taking out Roger, he thought he was getting rid of my hurt?
Finally, after at least ten minutes of crying, she fell asleep. Bernadette’s snores filled the room, too, and warmth spread through me. I loved these two girls. They were my life. I’d protect them with everything I had, which was why I was so quick to get them out of the house. I’d trusted Zayn, then I found out he’d murdered someone. But he’d pointed out that I fought guys and could easily kill them, and he was right. I could.
I groaned and rolled off the bed. Making sure to grab the key to the motel room, I looked at Ginny one more time before slipping out the door and locking it. I sat on a bench between our room and another one, scrubbing my hands over my face. The urge to smoke tingled in my chest, but I pushed it aside. I hadn’t had a cigarette in years.
A car drove across the gravel parking lot. I stared at the sleek build of the Maserati. I didn’t have to see in the dark to know the color. Green. Clenching my teeth, I stood and rolled my shoulders, ready for a fight.
Zayn pulled up in front of me and slowly got out of the GranTurismo. He eyed me for a second before he closed the door and headed toward me with his hands in his pants pockets. His movements were careful, yet casual, and I thought he was worried about me and what I’d done.
“I haven’t called the cops,” I said, though I didn’t know why. I should rat on him, but I didn’t, and not just because I hated the police.
His shoulders relaxed and he pulled his hands from his pockets, bringing a box of cigarettes and a red metal lighter outin the open. He popped one in his mouth and lit it up. I watched as he took a puff and blew out a stream of smoke.
“Can we talk?” He glanced around. At the same time, the office door opened and Pandora stepped outside with her arms crossed.
She wasn’t far and I could hear her when she said, “Is everything okay, Keaton?”
“It’s fine. He’s my...boyfriend.” The word came out weird on my tongue, but Pandora only nodded and went back inside.
Zayn’s face warped into something else, though. His expression relaxed and his eyes warmed, like I’d made his entire night. I’d never admitted what he was to me, had I? Hell, we hadn’t talked about it.
“Am I? Your boyfriend?”
I shrugged, embarrassment surging in my gut and heating my face. I glanced away from him as he took another puff of his cigarette. “Maybe. I don’t fucking know, dude.”
He laughed. “Dude again? You know what you should be calling me, boy.”
I sucked in a deep breath, goose bumps tickling my arms at the sound of him calling me his boy again. I glared down at my twitching dick. For fuck’s sake. What the hell was wrong with me?
“Come and sit in the car? I want to explain.” He took a step back, giving me space while he took another drag. I watched as the smoke billowed from between his beautiful lips as he blew it out, dancing in the air between us. He dropped the cigarette on the ground and squashed it under his shoe before he went back to the Maserati and slipped behind the wheel.
Taking a deep breath, I slid in the opposite side. Once my door was closed, I looked at him, taking in the way he held the steering wheel tightly. It was dark inside the vehicle, butmy body was in tune with his. Every deep breath he took, my hearing honed in on it. On him.
“I didn’t know him, but I hated that he made you feel inferior.” Zayn’s voice filled the closed space around us, drawing me in with every word that left him. I needed to tense my muscles to stop myself from leaning toward him. “I love you, boy, and you’re mine. Anyone who hurt you deserves to die a brutal death. I chose to end his life so his words no longer haunted you.”
I inhaled deeply, my lungs inflating until it hurt. My tongue felt heavy in my mouth and I couldn’t move it. Couldn’t speak.
“I don’t regret what I did. I told you before that it’s my job as your Daddy to protect you.” He looked at me, and my heart slammed against my ribs, making me gasp.
