“It’s so unfair how Anxo agrees with everything that comes out of Nevaeh’s mouth. He is always saying no to me for everything,” I hear Seiji whisper—not so quietly.
“I think it’s sweet,” Grace sighs dreamily while Anxo tries to show me how personal phones work. I understand about half of what he says but Anxo doesn’t mind repeating the same thing four times.
“Of course you do,” Rick scoffs in disgust. Grace dejectedly busies herself on her tab, completely missing how we’re all glaring at the bastard.
I don’t understand why Grace deals with this tool when he blatantly disrespects her like this. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all forfighting for your love against the world, but Rick is not someone worth fighting for.
I’m tempted to knock his teeth out, but Angel holds me back—shaking his head.
Leaning closer, he murmurs, “We’ve tried. She needs to do it herself when she’s ready.”
Sensing my anger, Anxo waits until I assure him that I will keep my opinions and fists to myself.For now.
Rick pushing his chair back has Grace flinching in her seat, and a pit forming in my stomach. There’s something off about this man and how his friend, who has been silent this entire meeting, keeps fidgeting and rubbing his sweaty palms on his pants.
When Grace’s worried eyes look up to see if Rick has left yet, I feel this intense need to let him know the kind of psychopath Grace is related to.
I want him to know what will happen the next time I see him trying to put my sister down.
Before Rick can leave with his buddy in tow, I motion for him to stop and bend down so I can whisper a little advice without anyone esle hearing.
Mason, the friend who is substantially smarter than Rick, tries to get him to leave, but Rick, being the arrogant and egoist asshole he is, doesn’t mind bending to my will.
Without taking my eyes off Grace, who purposely avoids me, I drop my voice to a whisper. “The next time you insult my sister in front of me, I’ll cut your fingers off and feed them to you, understood?”
I lean back when I don’t hear any acknowledgment and enjoy how fast the color drains from Rick’s face. Giving him a deranged grin, I watch his friend drag Rick away from me before I make good on my word.
If I were him, I would be running out the door and into another realm right about now. As if he read my mind, Rick throws me a look I don’t understand before storming out.
“I’m sorry about him,” Grace whispers, almost too quietly to hear over the rage in my head.
Then leave him. That’s what I want to say, but as if Angel read my mind, he reassures her for me, knowing whatever comes out of my mouth will be wrong timing.
Seiji clicks his tongue to get my attention and motions for me to lean closer. “Don’t worry about Rick, sunshine. He can be a real dick sometimes. Oh, who am I kidding? He is a dick, period. Not even the perfectly circumcised and ravishing kind, but the slightly crooked and weird looking kind, you know when it’s a little—”
Thankfully, Hazel cuts off his extremely inappropriate rant on types of male genitals by pushing his chair with her foot so he falls back.
I would’ve done it myself if I wasn’t so busy choking on air. I’m sure my face is flushed red, mirroring Grace, who looks ready to explode out of embarrassment.
“You’ll get used to filtering his words out on a daily basis,” Anxo adds sympathetically.
Will I, though?
CHAPTER 11
Do you hear voices too?
Nevaeh
Ithought getting my little sugar monster into the bathtub was hard, but getting him out was even more challenging. I’m still learning to care for a toddler, and the said toddler keeps adding his toys to the list of things I have to take care of.
Lately, monkey takes his new dinosaur stuffed toy everywhere with him. The stuffed animal is clutched in his stubby fingers, whether he is in the bath, eating, or sleeping.
Finding the perfect middle ground, Angel bought three lookalikes of his favorite toy when he noticed how August insists on feeding and bathing them. There was no way I could dry a soaked stuffed dinosaur enough for him to cuddle at night.
From the moment monkey woke up from his temporary coma, he refused to leave my side. His anxiety doesn’t let him relax unless I’m within his eyesight, so sharing my room was the only solution.
I remember how August hated it when Deviants dragged me out of our cell, and only after I was dumped back would he let himself cry to sleep, snuggling me.
