I stood up again and paced the room in front of the window. “It doesn’t matter what I want. She’s not mine anymore.”
“Have you told Jack? Or Sam?”
“No.” I spun around to face Haizley, the one person I had come to fully trust. “And I’m not going to. Frankie and her mom have no idea who I am, and I want it to stay that way.”
“But don’t you think—”
“NO!”
Haizley jumped, and I took a step back, shoving my hands into my pockets.
Haizley stood and walked toward me. “I’m not afraid of you, Derek.” I stepped back until I hit the wall, my eyes falling to the floor in shame. Haizley was right not to be afraid. I’d gotten that part of my temper under control. But the anger, the verbal outbursts… I couldn’t seem to get a handle on those.
“Give me your hands, Derek.” Haizley held her hands out in front of me, waiting for me to place mine in hers. She did this every time I lost my temper.
“The sudden volume is what made me jump,” she confirmed.
I waited another beat before I pulled my hands out of my pockets and placed them in hers.
“It’s okay to be angry. Anger is an emotion, and emotions aren’t bad. It’s okay to yell. Raising your voice doesn’t make you a bad person. It means you’re feeling overwhelmed and those emotions aren’t being regulated. And that, we can work on. You can learn how to overcome that; you have come so far already.”
“No one can know, Haizley.”
Haizley looked up at me and smiled. I knew that smile, so it was no surprise when she responded, “Not until you’re ready.”
Chapter Four
Katrina
Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one.
I took a deep breath and focused on Slyce. We had been at this for days, and she wouldn’t give in. She refused to budge and give me what I wanted.
“You can’t stay in this house forever.”
“Why?” I asked. My voice reminded me of my daughter’s from when she was four and threw a tantrum because I wouldn’t allow her to have chocolate for breakfast.
“It’s not healthy, Kat. You need sunshine—”
“I go outside!” I shouted. “I work in the garden.” My hands flew through the air in exasperation.
“In the backyard, where you can shield yourself behind a six-foot fence. You need to be social, make some friends.”
“I don’t want fucking friends,” I spat through clenched teeth. “Friends can’t be trusted.”
Hurt flashed in her eyes, and I was glad. She deserved to feel what I was feeling. We’d become close over the past few months, she being the only person besides Frankie who I spoke with. But she still wouldn’t tell me who hired her. Whoever it was still hadn’t come forward, and Slyce wouldn’t reveal their name or what they wanted with us.
She assured me we were safe, but I’d fallen for that before. I wouldn’t fall for it again. My sole job was to keep Frankie safe, and if that meant we lived like recluses, then so be it.
“Mom,” Frankie’s small voice called from the corner of the couch. “I’d like to go.”
“Why are you two always ganging up on me? I am trying to keep us safe.”
“Diamond Creek is probably the safest place you could be,” Slyce assured me.
I gaped at her. Safe? A few months ago, the clubhouse door blew to hell, and men died in the battle that ensued afterward. That wasn’t my definition of safe.
“Mom, please. I’m going crazy stuck in the house all the time. I want to meet kids my age.”
